





“BUSINESS 
| BUILDER 


wu 


= Handbook of the | 
|| Compton 
| Service — 











This MANUAL No. 


is the Property of 


F. E. Compton & Company 


and is issued in the name 


of 


The 
BUSINESS BUILDER 





A Small Book Dedicated to a Big Idea; 
Not a Set of Rules for Worshippers of 
Routine, But a Collection of Principles 
and Suggestions for the Guidance and 
Inspiration of a Group of Persons Se- 
lected for Their Intelligence and Sound- 
ness of Judgment—A Book for Compton 
Workers. 














“@ good man is alwwaps a learner’’.—Latin Proverb 
“A wise man learns more than his teacher knows’’.—Greek Proverb © 


Compiled and Edited 
by 
S. J. Gillfillan and Ronald Millar 


F. E. COMPTON & COMPANY 
Chicago, Illinois 


Copyright 1925 
F. E. Compton & Company 


By Way of Introduction 
Hy to Use This Book: | 


i YHE material in this book springs from two sources: 
fal (1) thirty years’ experience in the subscription book 
eee field and (2) a long and careful study of the prin- 
4 ciples and practice of salesmanship as applied by 
other large and successful sales organizations. The value of 
the material obtained in these two ways has been considerably 
increased by a certain amount of psychological interpretation. * 
© This is a brief and somewhat formidable way of saying that it 
~has been explained in terms of human nature and common 
‘sense. 
~ This book has only one end in view—to help all of us to 
help ourselves. By increasing our efficiency, it will increase 
Nour revenues. By increasing our revenues, it will increase our 
_s power and independence. And by increasing these, it will add 
“to our happiness, which is the end and aim of all life’s activity. 
So don’t imagine this book is a solemn cut-and-dried manual, 
handed down from executive branch to sales branch. On the 
contrary, it is a family document in which we all have an 
equal interest. 
Many books and manuals have been written on the art and 
science of salesmanship, several of them dealing specifically 
‘with book salesmanship. But they are for the most part 
~ analytical and sermonizing, laying down general theories and 
“rules, offering suggestions and advice, but failing in the most 
‘important department of all—they do not give practical ex- 
“amples and practical demonstrations. They tell you what 
N Syou should do and why. But they do not tell you how you 
“ should do it. 
iy This book overcomes that defect. It is a practical guide for 
“practical work. Of course, if we are not to proceed blindly, 
we must have a clear dnderstanding of the problems of sales- 
“Ymanship as well as a knowledge of how to solve them, we 
“\ must grasp the theory as well as the practice. So this book 
/™ fully explains the problems and theories. But it shows also 
. the theory put to work. 
© In using this book, bear in mind the dedication on the title 
* page. You will find in it no immutable laws, no fixed methods 
~~ to bind you. The art of salesmanship is bigger than any code 
« or system, for it deals directly with human nature, and human 
“nature can never be encompassed within the limits of a 
“formula. We do, however, undertake to give rules and 





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By Way of Introduction : + 
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methods, which, if followed intelligently, are sure to bring 
success In the long run. Your judgment will tell you when 
to make exceptions and adjustments. 

You will naturally be able to add invaluable material drawn 
from your own experience. And this does not mean sales 
experience only, but general experience with life and with 
people. You have lived with your eyes open. The surest 
sign of that is the fact that you have arrived at the place 
which all people of vision and courage sooner or later reach— 
the position of independent self-determined work. You will 
have no difficulty, therefore, in adapting the cases and solu- 
tions cited in this book to suit your own difficulties. Indeed, 
you must be sure to do this. Unless you do interpret the 
contents of this book in terms suited to your own particular 
needs, you will lose most of the benefit it can bring you. 

How can you best accomplish this? There is only one sure 
way. Study and digest the contents thoroughly, so that 
they become an instinctive part of your sales knowledge. 
Then you will have no difficulty in applying that knowledge 
in a natural way to every emergency. 

The book is not “light reading,” so it is not advisable to 
plow through it at one sitting. Read it slowly and think hard 
as youread. Make notes of any ideas that suggest themselves. 
Underscore with a pencil the points that appeal to you most. 
Send in to the editors any comments or criticisms that occur 
to you. If you do not find anything to disagree with, then 
you are not reacting in a healthy way. No person who is 
really interested in a question could ever agree with a whole 
book written on that question by someone else. So give your 
own opinions free play, but be sure when you disagree to 
present your opinion to the editors. Only by discussion can 
criticism become constructive. If the editors cannot justify 
the point in question, then it will be changed. 

After you have gone through the book carefully the first 
time, keep it by you in a handy place and review a little of it 
every day. Each day’s work brings its special problems. 
Carry those problems to this book while they are fresh in 
your mind. By using the index at the end you can find 
quickly any subject you need. 

Do these simple things and you will be surprised how much 
it will add to the joy and profit from your work. 


Ud 


The 
BUSINESS BUILDER 





> 





PART ONE 


The Compton Service 


I. Salesmanship....... te) RAY 1 

II. Educational Salesmanship... 7 
III. F. E. Compton & Company. .12 
IV. A New Idea in Education. .. .22 
Veehne: Makino of6G beh sme 
Wil. PoE Goesito Presse 33 
VII. The Great Success of C.P.E. .37 
VIII. The Compton Service........ 41 


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I. Salesmanship 


OU have a certain amount of energy to invest in life. 

In return you expect happiness. To different people 

happiness may seem to mean many different things, but 
in reality the cause of happiness is the same for everyone. 
It is called Success. 

No matter what you seek of life, if you are successful in 
winning it, you will be happy; if you fail, you will be unhappy. 
That’s the law of existence and there’s no dodging it. 

Your choice of what you really want life to give you in 
return for your investment of energy is something which 
concerns you alone. Others can’t help you much there. To 
change your tastes or your ideals to order is impossible. 
They are YOU. In other words, you can never learn to be 
happy according to other standards than your own. 

But you can learn how to use your energy wisely; you can 
master the machinery of success that will carry you forward 
to happiness, no matter what road you choose to travel. 

So this book will not waste words trying to tell you what 
you ought to think and how you ought to feel. Everything 
in it will be directed toward helping you to win success 
just as you are. | 

What is Salesmanship? 

The first step toward permanent success in any field of 
work is to obtain a clear and broad understanding of that 
field. We are not cogs in a machine, content to roll on from 
day to day, seeing nothing but the next groove ahead. We 
want to know exactly what we are doing, how we are doing 

it, and why we are doing it that way. 
‘ Salesmanship—what is it? Do you think it is the business 
of obtaining money in exchange for goods or services? If 
you do, your vision is narrow. That is one of the results of 
salesmanship. But it isn’t salesmanship itself. 

Salesmanship is the force that gets things done in the world. 
It is the power of persuasion and leadership. It is teaching in 
its broadest and most practical sense. It plays a leading part 
in all the important affairs of humanity. It is the one absolute 
essential to the real success of any enterprise. 

A broad statement, you say? All right, here’s a broader 
one. Every great man since history began owed and con- 
tinues to owe his greatness to his power of salesmanship. 
What is the measure of greatness, except the extent to which 
a man or a woman has affected the course of civilization? 


Socratés and Napoleon 2 
| $l 


And how has that ever been accomplished, except by leading 
people to adopt new ideas, new truths, new inventions? And 
what is that, except salesmanship? 

Socrates, preaching a new morality on the streets of Athens, 
was seized and put to death as a disturber. But he had “sold” 
his ideas to a few friends, including the great Plato who wrote 
them into a book. That’s why we hear about him today. 

Leif Ericson discovered America in the 11th century. He 
didn’t know that his discovery was worth anything. He went 
home and was forgotten. Columbus rediscovered America, 
“sold” the discovery to all Europe, and became the greatest 
of the world’s explorers. 

Napoleon’s greatest achievement was not the conquest of 
Europe. It was the conquest of France. He captured the 
enthusiasm and admiration of his own people—and with that 
force behind him, the rest was not so difficult. His greatness 
was his leadership—his salesmanship. 

The lawyer who argues his case before the court, the doctor 
who wins the confidence of his patients, the engineer who 
proves that a Panama Canal can be built, the preacher who 
persuades people to do good, the teacher who convinces his 
pupils of the value of knowledge—these are all practicing 
salesmanship. And unless they are good salesmen, they can’t 
be good lawyers, doctors, engineers, preachers, or teachers. 
Because then they won’t get done what they want done. 

No human being is sufficient unto himself. Sooner or later, 
all of us depend for our success upon the assistance and co- 
operation of others. And to persuade or lead others—no 
matter what the undertaking—requires salesmanship. 

These conclusions are not based upon tricks of reasoning, 
evolved to arouse enthusiasm. They are the hardest of hard 
facts. We do not want to create in ourselves a grandiose and 
exalted view of our work, which shall stir us up for the 
moment, but which, when we cool down, leaves emptiness. 
No, these things are to be thought over and weighed calmly. 

In that way we shall understand fully and exactly the 
scope and character of this work of ours, and we shall come 
to understand that the road to success in salesmanship is the 
road to success in life. ~ 


Business Salesmanship—lIf, as we have seen, it is important 
to understand how the principles involved in salesmanship 
apply to life in general—how much more essential it is to 
have a clear grasp of the special part they play in the modern 
business world! 

Salesmanship today is the great motive power of all industry 
and commerce. It is the gigantic dynamo which supplies the 


ad 


Salesmanship is Creative 3 





energy that turns all the wheels of business. Let it cease its 
work for an instant, and the whole financial and economic 
structure would collapse. 

One example will serve to make this clear. The hugest 
business enterprise in history was the mobilization of the 
United States after it entered the World War. Within a few 
months the vast resources of the country and of its people 
had to be turned from peace-time enterprises and united 
into one great war organization. 

What made that possible? Nothing else except salesman- 
ship. No law, no ten thousand laws would have done the 
work. When we first went into the war, the entire nation was 
opposed to any form of draft or conscription. A few weeks 
later Congress was able to pass the Draft Act with virtually 
no opposition. Why? Because the American people had 
been sold the idea of a citizen army. 

The Liberty Bond drives, which induced the American 
people to lend their government the almost unbelievable sum 
of 21 billions of dollars, were examples of salesmanship in 
its simplest and most direct form. Because of salesmanship, 
we gladly went without sugar, without bread, without meat, 
without heat in public buildings; we consented to surrender 
cherished rights and privileges as a people in order to make 
that war financially possible. . 

The same thing applies to lesser business enterprises. The 
banker sells to his depositors the idea of safety and con- 
venience; the manufacturer, seeking a loan to expand his 
business, sells to the banker the value of this expansion and 
of the security he has to offer; then the manufacturer has 
to sell his product to the retailer; and the retailer has to sell 
it in turn to the consumer. A man seeking a job has to sell 
his services to his employer; an employer seeking help has 
to sell the job to the employe. Wherever any real business 
is being transacted, there you find salesmanship the dom- 
inating force. 


Real Salesmanship is Creative—Like all forms of persua- 
sion and leadership, real business salesmanship always creates 
something. It gets something done which would not have 
been done otherwise. It puts up a building, builds a railway, 
establishes or expands an enterprise, brings the right man 
and the right work together, or carries knowledge or safety 
or comfort or pleasure into new fields. 

It is that creative quality which distinguishes true sales- 
manship from mere order-taking. The latter consists in sup- 
plying people with things they are already determined to 
have. This is a fine and necessary service. But it hasn’t the 


An Important Difference | 4 


elements of leadership or the educational qualities that per- 
tain to true salesmanship. 

Salesmanship deals almost entirely with ideas. It consists 
in implanting new ideas in the minds of people. The taking 
of orders is nothing but the inevitable result of the new ideas. 

The Power of Persuasion 

We have seen that salesmanship and leadership are funda- 
mentally the same, and that both depend upon the power of 
persuasion. But what do we mean by “‘persuasion’’? Since 
it is the cornerstone of salesmanship upon which all of our 
success must rest, it will be well to have a definite under- 
standing of this great force. 

To persuade a person is to influence that person to volun- 
tary action. This is accomplished by a combined appeal to 
reason and emotion. In this sense persuasion differs from 
conviction, which is brought about solely by an appeal to 
reason and which does not necessarily lead to action. For 
instance, a man might be persuaded by a physician in whom 
he had confidence to abandon smoking, without understand- 
ing any of the reasons why smoking was harmful to him. 
That would be a matter of faith and not conviction. On the 
other hand, the same man might be convinced by the physi- 
cian’s careful reasoning that smoking was harmful, and yet 
out of weakness or disregard for his health might refuse to 
abandon it. 

Since the end of salesmanship is to get something done— 
to produce action—it follows that we must always ‘have 
recourse to persuasion, relying upon conviction merely as an 
auxilliary help. That it is a great help is undeniable; unfor- 
tunately, true convictions are rare. Being strictly based upon 
reason, they can be implanted in the minds of those only 
who have quick perception of the subject in hand and keen 
intelligence. The average mind is incapable of reaching solid 
convictions except upon the simplest of matters. 

How many people understand the principles of insurance 
sufficiently to have an intelligent conviction regarding the 
soundness of a life insurance policy? Not one in a hundred 
of those who buy the policies. And we who are selling educa- 
tion—if we sold it only to people who are capable of under- 
standing fully the value of it, our sales would be few, and 
besides we would be devoting our services to those who need 
them the least. 4 

Of course, reasoning plays a great part in bringing about 
persuasion, but it is chiefly the reasoning which the prospect 
carries on independently, not the reasoning which the sales- 
man might lay out for the prospect. We can never see into 


The Secret of Persuasion 5 





the minds of others clearly or completely enough to map 
out in advance the course their reason will follow. To attempt 
to do so is to bring on argument, and it is an ancient truth 
that argument never convinces or persuades an opponent. In 
practical affairs argument is never used, except for the benefit 
of a third party, as when lawyers argue to win decisions from 
impartial judges or juries. In salesmanship there is no third 
party, and by the very nature of the case prospects cannot 
be impartial, for the decisions they are asked to make concern 
themselves too intimately. 

All the salesman can do is to use suggestion to start the 
prospect’s reasoning along certain broad human lines and then 
to let it take its course, knowing that, in the end, it will always 
be emotion that leads to action. And emotion, unlike reason, 
is something in which we all more or less resemble one 
another—something we can guide and control in others. 


Methods of Persuasion—We have seen that a sale is a 
transaction between two people only—the salesman and the 
prospect—and that no appeal can be made to any third 
person for a decision. It follows, therefore, that the prospect 
plays the part of judge and jury. As far as practical results 
go, the prospect is always right. This is one of the most 
important principles of practical salesmanship. If we under- 
stand it thoroughly, it will save us countless mistakes and 
troubles. . 

The prospect is always right. This does not mean that the 
prospect’s attitude is necessarily logical or sincere. It merely 
means that, no matter what that attitude may be, it is the 
salesman’s business to take the prospect as he is. The sales- 
man is not there to criticize or to reform the prospect. He 
is there for one thing only—to persuade the prospect to 
favorable action. And, if persuasion fails, it is the salesman 
and not the prospect who is at fault. 

In practice, therefore, we should always endeavor to build 
upon what is already in the prospect’s heart and mind. That 
is the secret of persuasion. For instance, if our prospect is a 
school principal, a demonstration based upon educational 
theories will probably appeal to him. But it would not appeal 
to the average mother because, despite the real importance 
of those theories to her, she has no previous knowledge of 
them. In order to persuade her on such a basis, we would 
first have to put into her mind an interest in technical educa- 
tional problems, which would be in itself an independent piece 
of salesmanship. Far better build upon the more direct 
interests which we know to be occupying already the minds 
of average mothers. 


Learn by Studying Yourself 6 





We shall see later on what are the principal interests which 
can be counted upon in our special line of salesmanship. 
We shall observe also how these interests must always be 
linked with certain simple and well-defined emotional motives 
in order to bring about final persuasion. Here it suffices if 
we understand the general framework around which all suc- 
cessful salesmanship is built. 

The Art of Using Common Sense 

If you have followed carefully the somewhat theoretical 
discussion in the foregoing sections, you realize by this time 
that the primary principles of salesmanship are nothing more 
than the common sense application to our work of the uni- 
versal rules which govern all human nature. There is nothing 
secret or difficult about these principles. In fact, we are 
instinctively obeying them a hundred times a day, whether 
we are engaged in making sales or not. The value of knowing 
these principles in a definite and conscious way is merely so 
that we can control them and use them more effectively. 

In this sense, salesmanship differs from most other arts or 
sciences. It calls for no special technique. To practice it we 
do not have to learn any difficult formulas or study any 
intricate rules. Success depends merely upon our doing in a 
somewhat more perfect and skillful manner the things that 
we are already doing every time we come in contact with 
another person whose opinions and actions we wish to influ- 
ence. In this respect, we may say that salesmanship is the 
supreme application of common sense. 

Hence it follows that any intelligent person can master this 
art. The so-called “born salesman” is merely an individual 
who is naturally a little more sensitive than the average to 
the thoughts and feelings of others, who is quicker to catch 
and adapt himself to the point of view of the person to whom 
he is talking. This faculty, like the power of memory, grows 
with practice. If we work hard to get that practice and keep 
our eyes open, we can all be “born salesmen.” 

Study yourself—that’s the best way to master the fine art 
of salesmanship. You come out of a store after making an 
unexpected purchase—What led you to make that purchase? 
An advertisement makes a strong appeal to you—Why is 
that appeal so strong? A public speaker succeeds in influ- 
encing your opinions—How did he do it? A dozen times a 
day, you are being “sold” ideas, opinions, or actual goods. 
Analyze those “sales.’’ Analyze also the attempts at “sales” 
that failed. You may be sure that in the great majority 
of cases, the things that affect you will affect others in the 
same way. 


a4 


II. Educational Salesmanship 





LL we have said about creative salesmanship in general 
applies with double force to the special branch in 
which we are all engaged—educational salesmanship. 

While it is true that each salesman is always eager to tell 
outsiders of the importance of his particular work in the 
world scheme, we believe that any unprejudiced judge will, 
without hesitation, admit the supremacy of educational sales- 
manship over all other branches of sales work from the point 
of view of service rendered. 

If the service rendered by a university is properly put on a 
higher plane than the service of a canning factory, then it 
follows naturally that those who sell education are pursuing 
a higher calling than those who sell canned goods. All other 
branches of salesmanship deal with physical needs or luxuries 
—food, clothing, shelter, insurance against loss of life or 
property, mechanical conveniences, etc. But the educational 
salesman deals with intellectual needs. He or she is a dis- 
tributor of knowledge and of all that knowledge brings in the 
way of ideals and accomplishments. This kind of work 
naturally carries with it lasting pride and satisfaction. 

We need not devote space here to a discussion of educa- 
tional salesmanship in general, since this will come with 
greater force and more practical value when we are dealing 
with the ideals, principles, and procedure of the Compton 
Service. But there are certain features about the Subscription 
Book business and its special methods, which each one of us 
should understand clearly so that no random doubts about 
the necessity of those methods shall ever assail us. 


The Strangeness of Books 


Have you ever held a book in your hand and thought what 
an amazing thing it is? It is a solid object, with weight and 
shape and color—just as much as a can of beans or a cake 
of soap. It has to be manufactured out of raw materials at 
some cost; it has to be packed up and shipped at so much a 
pound; and it takes up room on tables and shelves—just 
like any other kind of merchandise. And yet all these tan- 
gible things have absolutely nothing to do with the real value 
of a book. 

That value is entirely a thing of the mind. The physical 
qualities are merely conveniences, vehicles, containers, for the 
real qualities. If, instead of paper and ink, you used lantern 


7 


The Attitude Toward Books 8 
eeEIyeEEEEEOEEEEEEEEE—EEE— 
slides and phonograph records you would retain without loss 
all those real qualities. A book is nothing more than a 
practical instrument for conveying thoughts—like a tele- 
phone. But there’s this great difference: when you buy tele- 
phone service, you are buying the use of the instrument; when 
you buy book service you are buying the use of the thoughts. 

The fact that books appeal directly to the mind sets them 
apart from all other forms of merchandise. We must keep this 
fundamental difference constantly before us if we are to 
understand the peculiar feeling that people have toward 
books in general. 

You can judge the value of an automobile by its speed, 
power, ease of control, appearance, etc.—qualities which can 
be easily tested and demonstrated. A food is judged by its 
taste and nutritive content, both of which can be readily 
determined by experiment or exact chemical analysis. But 
there is no simple standard of value for judging a book. What 
people seek in their reading are such qualities as interest, 
inspiration, and information, which depend almost entirely 
upon individual fancies and opinions. In almost any other 
department of life, people will readily accept the judgment of 
experts, but in the field of books this has little real weight. 
Each person instinctively feels himself a competent judge. 

This is not to be wondered at when you consider the enor- 
mous variety of printed matter, full of conflicting ideas and 
information, which the presses of the world turn out. Even 
the professional critics and experts cannot agree on the good 
or the bad. 

While reserving the right of individual judgment, people 
are nevertheless at a loss before the enormous mass of litera- 
ture that confronts their choice. Not knowing how to choose, 
the great majority either follow the whims of fashion, taking 
any book that is presented as “the latest thing,” or they take 
refuge in familiar indifference and buy no books at all. Only 
a small minority find time to select carefully and purchase 
_ wisely. 

The Publishing Business 

Publishing books under these conditions is naturally a 
business requiring other methods than those which apply to 
narrower industries. The taste for casual reading is largely 
taken care of by newspapers and popular magazines. There 
is no general demand for books as a whole, as there is for 
automobiles or canned goods. John Smith, the average’ 
citizen, may buy ten books one year because he happens to 
run across that many which catch his fancy; but next year 
John Smith may buy no books at all. 


Book Selling Methods 9 





Publishers who serve the general public, therefore, have 
to choose one of two courses. They have to cater to the 
comparatively small number of people who buy quantities 
of “the latest books;” or they have to confine themselves to 
certain special types of books of wide and lasting usefulness 
for which, in turn, they must create a market among the vast 
majority. The latter method is the one followed by the 
subscription book publishers. 

Newcomers in the subscription book field almost always 
ask the questions: ‘‘Why don’t you sell these books through 
book stores? ”’ and “If these books are such good books, why 
do you have to call on people directly and persuade them to 
buy?” If what we have said in the foregoing paragraphs 
about the attitude of people toward books has been made 
clear, you already have a part of the answer to these ques- 
tions. But there are some additional interesting details. 


Retail Book Stores 

Let’s consider some facts about retail book stores. Serving 
chiefly, as we have seen, a small class of habitual book buyers, 
these stores are naturally very few in number. In Chicago, 
for instance, there is only one retail book store to every 
30,000 persons. Many communities of fair size have no 
book store whatever. Even where these stores are fairly 
plentiful, comparatively few people enter them. So it is 
apparent that they do not provide a way of reaching directly 
any large proportion of the population. 

The owner of the retail book store, like any other mer- 
chant, buys his stock outright; hence he can afford to order 
only what he is reasonably sure of selling quickly. The 
seasonal crop of novels, biographies, essays, travel books, 
etc., offers a larger and surer profit with less trouble and risk 
than would be entailed if he tried to build up a trade in more 
permanent long-lived books. His selling cost is high. No 
figures have been compiled for the United States, but a 
recent survey in Canada showed that 29% of the retail 
price of a book was consumed by selling expenses such as 
rent, clerk hire, ete. 

The publisher whose sole market is through the retail book 
store must manufacture his books at a very low cost. Being 
unable to predict accurately what will win popular favor, 
his margin of profit must be very large, so that a few success- 
ful books (and the really successful ones are always very few) 
will pay for the many failures. If we add to the publisher’s 
price, the costs and profits of the retailer, we find that the 
difference between manufacturing cost and retail price must 
necessarily be very great. 


Need for Direct Selling 10 
—_—_—=SSS==—S===============[—[==EH™”=—{=[>{>{[{{={={==kK[{[xNa{z=[_a=an»aae=_—— 

There are certain types of books which are so expensive 
to prepare and manufacture that they would never be pub-— 
lished at all if the publishers had to rely upon the limited 
and uncertain market which retail stores provide, or if their 
sale was confined to the small number of habitual book buyers. 
Of these types, the encyclopedia is the extreme example. 
Requiring the work of numerous editors over a period of 
years, running into many volumes, and needing the highest 
quality of paper and binding, the original cost of a good 
encyclopedia is tremendous. The chapter giving the history 
of Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia will be convincing 
enough on that score. 


The Subscription Book Business 

The publisher of such books must be reasonably sure in 
advance that he will be able to sell a large number of sets, 
before he can safely undertake their publication. And the 
only way he can have that reasonable assurance is by con- 
trolling directly the whole machinery of distribution and sale. 
He must be able to weach a large number of people with the 
story of his books and must keep on reaching a large number 
of people all the time. . 

If his publication is broad in scope and made for the use 
of the average man, woman, or child, his potential market is, 
of course, enormous, for everyone needs and wants that kind 
of education. But he cannot expect that the public will, 
without direction or assistance, select his particular books for 
recognition among the many thousands. He must turn his 
potential market into an actual market by direct demonstra- 
tion. 

In other words, there must be a sales force, specially trained 
to explain the merits of the work in question, to show the 
customers how to use it, and to carry on the financial trans- 
actions in a reliable manner. The members of this sales 
force must be well educated, for their entire work deals with 
education; and they must inspire respect and confidence. 
Such people must be well paid and “protected” in their 
field, which means that they must not be allowed to compete 
against one another in the same territory. This explains 
why retail book stores are usually not permitted by the pub- 
lishers to sell even the small number of subscription books 
for which they might find customers, because, if they did so, 
they would be competing against the regular sales force. 

This method of book distribution has been followed for 
years by enterprising publishers, and has proved very 
effective not only from the business point of view but also 
as a real service to countless thousands of people, many of 


Tributes to Book Salesmen Li 


whom otherwise would never have known the refining and 
constructive influence of good books. 

The very efficiency of the method has, of course, prompted 
a few unscrupulous persons to take advantage of the fact 
that the public cannot distinguish at a glance good books 
from bad. But such efforts have usually been short-lived 
and serve merely to make more conspicuous and appreciated 
the work of those who devote themselves loyally and honor- 
ably to this all-important branch of public education. 


EDITORIAL FROM 
The Mew Dork Times 

The book agent is an educator, a literary emissary to a 
multitude of homes. Some of the most important books that 
we have are sold by agents. The reason for this is obviously 
invoiced in the books themselves. A great work of history, 
for instance, that takes with it a number of recognized 
names for its authorship, needs somebody, well informed 
and primed for the purpose, to explain and describe its 
special aim. It is right here that the book canvasser comes 
in. The successful publication of some of the best works in 
our literature is due to his patient persistence as a seller of 

_books. His actual service in this line, his usefulness in popu- 
larizing good books is the subject of a recent tribute in a 
Boston newspaper: : 

“The leading publishers in the country employ agents for 
the reason that sets of books, or such as require a large pre- 
liminary outlay and call for a corresponding risk, cannot be 
sold in any other way. Audubon solicited subscriptions to 
enable him to publish his work, now almost priceless. No 
dictionary, atlas, encyclopedia, or extensive legal, medical, 
or historical work could be sold in large enough quantities 
through the book stores. It is well to remember that to the 
book agent we owe the existence of all of our most valuable 
works of reference.” 


EXTRACTS FROM AN EDITORIAL 
by Dr. Frank Crane 


We need the book agent because we are prone to neglect 
books. He does us a real service in calling our attention to 
our need for food for the mind and character. Every book 
agent is an advance agent for culture and for better citizen- 
ship, for education and for the spread of intelligence. 

The book agent should be honored because he brings to 
our attention as a rule the very books we need most and 
neglect most—books that are the real literary foundation of 
any household. 

The book agent is a literary specialist. We consult an eye 
specialist, an ear specialist, or a nerve specialist; why should 
we not have the advantage of talking with a book specialist 
before we purchase our literature? When you buy a book of 
an agent, you get a better idea of what you are buying than 
you do when you purchase elsewhere, for he is well acquainted 
with his book and can give you the advance information 
about it which you desire. 


III. F. E. Compton & Company 


r | NHE past is a warrant for the future. A brief history of 
the founding and development of the House of 
Compton will help us to understand clearly the course 

we are following at present and to forecast the development 

in the years to come. 

Chandler B. Beach laid the foundation of what is today 
the House of Compton when he launched “The Student’s 
Cyclopedia” in Chicago in 1893. Born in 1839 in Ithaca, 
N. Y., of old New England stock, Mr. Beach had been 
graduated from Marietta College in 1862, had entered the 
Union Army, serving in the quartermaster’s department in 
Baltimore, and had emerged from the war, a penniless young 
captain. Chicago had attracted him, and he had entered 
the book field. He had had several small publishing ventures 
of his own under way, when the great fire of 1871 had thrown 
him on the world again at the age of 32. Nothing daunted, 
he had returned to the field as a book agent, handling many 
different publications, constantly studying people, their 
wants and needs, and gathering conclusions. 

At the age uf 52, when most men feel that the best part of 
their race is run, Mr. Beach had decided to put his experi- 
ence and his conclusions to the test. Gathering together all 
he had accumulated and all he could borrow, he had set 
about to make a new kind of book which should give people 
what they wanted and needed. Two years later, after untold 
hardships and difficulties, the first popular reference work 
published in America came from the press—The Student’s 
Cyclopedia, in two volumes. 

What was the idea that animated that earliest venture 
and which has animated every one of its descendants ever 
since? Simply this: to put into the hands of American fami- 
lies books of reasonable price which would contain the essen- 
tials of knowledge in clear, accurate, and complete form— 
books that every one could afford to own and that every one 
could and would use with profit. Mr. Beach had had experi- 
ence in selling the big encyclopedias then in existence. He 
knew that they were beyond the purse and beyond the 
understanding of the average man or woman, and virtually 
useless to a child. He had seen scores of unreliable and 
worthless substitutes for encyclopedias offered to the public. 
He saw that something altogether new was needed to keep 
pace with the rising tide of science and education. 


12 


2 
« 


An Extraordinary Life 13 


The Student’s won favor at once with educators, and grad- 
ually the public awakened to the value of the new work. 
. Success brought many imitators and competition grew keen; 
but the same insight and ideals of service which had made 
Mr. Beach a pioneer served to keep him a leader in his field. 
He kept enlarging and improving his books, year by year, 
spending large sums on editorial work, obtaining the co- 
operation of leading authorities in all departments of knowl- 
edge, keeping the articles up to date, and improving the illus- 
trations as rapidly as new engraving methods were perfected. 
A man of rare courtesy, generosity, and personal honor, he 
established and maintained throughout his organization the 
highest standards of business practice, demanding of every 
representative of C. B. Beach & Company fair dealing and 
truthful representation of the books to the public. 


Service Brings Fortune 

The Student’s Cyclopedia became The Student’s Refer- 
ence Work and then The New Student’s Reference Work, 
increasing to three, then four, then five, then seven volumes. 
Within twelve years, Mr. Beach had amassed a fortune, and 
was ready to retire from the active management of the busi- 
ness. For his services in the cause of popular education, he 
was awarded the honorary degree of LL.D. by Marietta 
College. He became a leader in Chicago business life, being 
chosen as one of the directors of the Central Trust Company 
of Illinois, one of the most influential banks in the United 
States. 

One more example of extraordinary energy and ability 
of the man who founded this business: when Charles G. 
Dawes was appointed in 1921 director of the Federal Budget 
System with power to reorganize the financing methods of 
the departments of the United States government, he asked 
Mr. Beach, then 82 years of age, to come to Washington 
and lend his advice and assistance. Mr. Beach plunged into 
the work of one of the bureaus, made a survey, and com- 
pleted his recommendations ahead of any of the other 
financial experts. The results he achieved were used as @ 
model for the remainder of that. gigantic task. 


From Agent to Owner 


Let’s go back now to the year 1893, when The Student’s 
was born. That same year F. E. Compton was graduated 
from high school at Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and went to 
work in a saw mill. This was too monotonous, so he set out 
on the road canvassing for a specialty house. After three 
months he worked his way back home on freight trains— 


Three Failures=One Success 14 








broke. It seemed that he could not sell. So he borrowed 
$200 and went south to Kentucky as an agent for school sup- 
plies. After several months, he was broke again, proving 


for the second time that he could not sell. Then, in March - 
1894, he learned about The Student’s and joined its selling 


force. For the first month, he had to borrow money to pay 





Frank E. Compton 


his board. It was enough to convince anyone that he could 
not sell. But this time the boy decided to fight it out on his 
newly-chosen line. He kept working and studying, and at last 
broke through the barrier. 

He earned enough that summer to start in September at 
the University of Wisconsin, where he planned to prepare 
himself for a lawyer’s career. Work with The Student’s 
during holidays and vacations continued to pay his expenses, 
and his experience in persuading prospects developed the 
skill that won a place for him on the University Debating 
Team. By the time he left college, the study and success- 
ful practice of salesmanship had captured his interest to the 


a 


A Ten-Year Battle 15 


EOE 
exclusion of the law. He determined to devote himself to 
the book business. In a short time he had organized a 
large crew of college men, undergraduates and graduates, 
many of them much older than himself. At the head of his 
forces, he went East and launched an attack on conservative 
New England. No sooner had he broken down the barriers 
of conservatism than he encountered fierce and merciless 
competition from publishers who had been quick to follow 
the trail blazed by Mr. Beach. In those days the battles 
of the sales field were fought without gloves, and the experi- 
ences in this connection of Frank Compton, book agent, would 
fill a large volume with interesting and valuable reading. 

Suffice it to say that he fought according to the Beach code, 
squarely and in the open—fought and won a ten-year battle, 
ten years made up of working days 14 and 16 hours long. 
During that whole time he never put his feet under a desk 
nor leaned back to contemplate past achievements. While 
managing a crew of 30 to 40 people, he continued to sell 
books himself, averaging during one strenuous six-months’ 
period an order a day. 

In 1905 Mr. Beach called Mr. Compton to the Chicago 
office and made him general sales manager. Under his direc- 
tion the business expanded more rapidly than ever. Two 
years later, when Mr. Beach desired to retire from the 
active management of the company, Mr. Compton offered 
to take over the sales rights. Mr. Beach accepted the offer 
asking nothing but Mr. Compton’s note for the large amount 
involved. On January 1, 1907, the name of the firm was 
changed to F. E. Compton & Company, and five years later 
Mr. Compton bought the manufacturing rights, including 
the plates and copyrights, and reorganized the company 
as a corporation. 


All Men of Experience 


John M. Compton joined the organization in 1898, getting 
his first experience as a book salesman in New York City. 
He made a great success of the work from the very start, 
later going out ‘‘on the road” and covering territory from 
Maine to the Mexican border. During the ten years he spent 
in the field, he established some extraordinary sales’ records, 
including the great record which still stands unbroken— 
53 orders for one week’s work. 

In 1909, John Compton came to the Chicago office to assist 
in the management of the business, and when the new 
company was organized in 1912, he was chosen secretary 
and later vice-president. 


On the Road at Sixteen 16 








Harry C. Johnson, treasurer of the company, began his 
book experience at an earlier age probably than any other 
member of the entire organization. When he was a high 
school boy, 16 years old, he began selling a business guide 
(one volume, one dollar) to farmers in western Minnesota. 
He travelled afoot through the sparsely settled country, tak- 
ing orders, and sleeping wherever the sun went down. At 
the end of a few days’ tour, he would return to his starting 
point, load a buggy with books, and go out to make his 
deliveries. 

At the end of his high school course, he worked four years 
for a manufacturing concern, then decided to study law, 





John M. Compton 
entering the University of Wisconsin. There, since it was 
necessary for him to earn his way through, he joined one of *’ 
the crews of college men which F. E. Compton, who had 
graduated ahead of him, was at that time organizing to sell 
The Student’s Reference Work during the summer months. 


Broad Business Training 17 








When he had completed his University course, Mr. Johnson 
accepted a position with The Review of Reviews, in the collec- 
tion and mail order department. His record there brought 
him an offer from the great publishing house of Doubleday, 
Page & Company, where he was soon given charge of the 





Harry C. Johnson 


entire mail order department and the wholesale subscription 
book department. He continued there until 1909, when Mr. 
Compton, who was reorganizing his newly-acquired business, 
induced him to come to Chicago as general manager. 

In 1912 he added the duties of treasurer of the company 
to his work as general manager, and has continued to hold 
both positions ever since. 

In the spring of that same year, a young teacher from 
Indiana University by the name of 8S. J. Gillfillan was teaching 
school in his home state, when he saw a Compton advertise- 
ment in an educational journal, asking for summer workers. 


Going Through the Mill 18 





He answered the ‘‘ad,” signed a contract, and did so well 
that first summer that he never returned to the classroom. 
For the next two years, he worked in Iowa, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, the Dakotas, and finally went east to New York 





Ss. J. Gillfillan 


state, where he became a field organizer, hiring and training 
beginners. In January, 1915, he came to the Chicago office 
as general organizer of the field forces. In May of the next 
year, he launched the Compton house organ, Better Business, 
and in 1917 he was elected secretary of the company and 
appointed general sales manager. 


Something to Remember 


We give these brief sketches of the history of the company 
and its officers merely to show you the fund of broad and 
varied experience which is brought to bear upon the work 
of directing the policies of the Compton Service. You will 
notice that every one of the officers of the company ‘‘went 
through the mill.”” Each of them worked in the field, doing 


3 


What It Means To You 19 








the same things you are doing now, encountering the same 
problems and difficulties, learning about human nature and 
educational salesmanship at first hand. In other words, they 
know the business from top to bottom. 

If they succeeded more fully than others it wasbecause they 
found out how to solve the fundamental problems of this 
work better than others did. They realize, as no inexperi- 
enced persons could, that the sales force in the field is the 
most vital part of the entire organization and that nothing 
must ever be done which tends in the slightest degree to 
impede its efficiency. They know that unless you in the 
field succeed for yourselves, the company itself cannot possibly 
succeed. 

Bear this in mind, if you are ever tempted to criticize 
any company policy. Remember, first, that that policy 
springs from long experience; and, second, that it cannot 
possibly bring prosperity to the company unless it also 
brings prosperity to you. 

The Working Organization 

You who are in the field are, in a sense, in closer partner- 
ship with the company than any other workers; and we believe 
that you can never know too much about your own business. 
To help you, therefore, to understand the magnitude of this 
business and the many details that have to be constantly 
attended to, we give you asummary of the chief departments 
of F. E. Compton & Company with the work that they do. 


Editorial Department: The Editorial Department of F. E. 
Compton & Company is a permanent part of the organization, 
and consists of the Editor and his staff. This department has 
charge of preparing the material for each successive edition of 
C. P. E., making revisions, keeping the work up-to-date, and 
answering all questions from subscribers or others concerning 
the contents of the books, etc. This department also edits 
C. P. N., and in this connection is constantly gathering important 
and interesting information and valuable pictures from all parts 
of the world; American and European newspapers and magazines 
are regularly scanned for news and suggestions and a voluminous 
correspondence is carried on with authorities and experts in this 
country and abroad. All the material obtained in this way is 
carefully filed and indexed. The Editor is Athol E. Rollins, 
formerly Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and a writer 
and newspaper man of wide experience. 

Manufacturing Department: This department has charge 
of the manufacturing of C. P. E. and C. P. N. It purchases the 
paper, ink, cloth, etc., that go into the books, and supervises the 
printing, binding, and packing. The chapter on the making of 
C. P. E. will give you some idea of the magnitude of this work. 
This department also supervises the setting up and printing of 
GC. N. each month. The department is under the general 
supervision of H. C. Johnson. 


The History of An Order 20 





Sales Department: Everything pertaining to sales and 
sales promotion comes under this department. This includes 
the hiring of new solicitors, general field management, the pub- 
lication of ‘‘Better Business,” and the preparation and printing 
of all bulletins, circulars, advertisements, sales talks, and 
manuals. This department is under the direct management of 
S. J. Gillfillan. 


School Service Department: While the work of this 
department is closely coordinated with that of the general 
Sales Department, it has sole charge of all sales to schools and 
libraries. For this purpose a separate sales force is employed 
composed of persons specially familiar with school requirements 
and purchasing methods in the different states. This department 
arranges exhibits at all important educational conventions, 
conducts advertising campaigns in educational journals, and 
obtains official approvals and endorsements for C. P. E. 
C. Seymour Jones is manager of this department. 


Business Department: This department is made up of 
several branch departments, whose work interlocks so closely 
that they are grouped under one heading. Included here are the 
Accounting Department, the Filing Department, the Collection 
Department, the Stenographic, Dictaphone, and Typing De- 
partment, the Mailing Department, and the Supply and Ship- 
ping Departments. These are all under the supervision of 
Marvin E. Miner, office manager. 


Perhaps the best way to give you an insight into the work of 
these departments, connecting it at the same time with your 
work in the field, will be to trace briefly the history of an order 
from the time the contract is received at the Chicago office. 


Suppose Mrs. John Jones gives you an order with first pay- 
ment and the books are duly delivered to her. The original con- 
tract, signed by Mrs. Jones and containing the required informa- 
tion and references filled in by you, is sent to the main office with 
your manager’s weekly delivery report and your own weekly 
sales report. 


Your weekly report goes to the sales department, where it 
becomes part of the statistical records. The contract and the 
delivery report go to the accounting department. There, a new 
account is opened under the name of ‘Mrs. John Jones.” This 
account is given a very ingenious number, something like this: 
“TV-CF-2607-243.”’ This number really tells the whole history 
of that order. It says that the order was the 243d order taken 
by Solicitor 2607 (that’s you) belonging to the team of Manager 
F, of Superintendent C’s division, in the year 1924. 


The information on the contract and delivery report is care- 
fully checked for dates and the spelling of names, etc. Then it is 
entered on three different cards. One of these—called the Sub- 
scriber’s Ledger Account—is the official record which is kept 
in a fire-proof safe and forms the permanent and final evidence 
of all payments and charges. The second is the Master Index 
Card, which is filed in alphabetical order with the cards of all 
other subscribers. The third card is the Collection Card, which 
is the current working card, on which is noted all the information 
about Mrs. Jones, a digest of any correspondence that may 
take place with her, a current record of all payments, ete. 


The ‘‘Kick’’ Department 21 


—SES>E>E>E>E>E>E»=>__>>=anh™_Iiq~—_—_—_—~]a—_—e—e_——E——e—e—>>l~—l— ou IyIyIyIIIyIyyEeyeyeoe———————__ 


In addition to this, Mrs. Jones’ name and address is placed 
on a mailing stencil, and filed in such a way that it will come up 
ten days before each of her payments is due, so that a state- 
ment may be sent to her regularly each month. After the state- 
ment is sent out, the name comes up every ten days until the 
payment is received. 

After all the information has been taken from it, the original 
contract signed by Mrs. Jones is filed with all other contracts in 
a file divided according to states. The towns are arranged alpha- 
betically under each state, and the contracts filed alphabetically 
under each town. In this way we can tell on short notice the 
number and names of C. P. E. owners in any town or state of 
the Union. 

In addition to the subscribers’ accounts, separate accounts 
are kept for each solicitor, where advances are charged and com- 
missions credited. 

To give you an idea of the volume of business transacted by 
these various departments—the Mailing Department handles 
so many letters every day that special messenger trucks are em- 
ployed to carry them to and from the postoffice. 

The Supply and Shipping Department has charge of sending 
out all sets of C. P. E. to the various districts and of filling all 
requisitions from the field for supplies and equipment. 


Executive Department: We list this department last be- 
cause its duties extend into all the other departments; to under- 
stand the scope of its work, you must know the functions of the 
different branches This department has charge of carrying out 
and applying in daily practice the executive policies of the 
company. Here are handled all questions arising in connection 
with the sales contracts, advances, and commissions of the field 
force, and problems of territory and inter-departmental juris- 
diction. It is the court of first appeal in all relations between 
the sales department and the business department. It passes 
upon all requisitions for checks, field supplies, etc. It is the 
bureau where all complaints are sent and all ‘‘kicks’”’ registered. 
This is the place to come if you have a grievance or a query 
concerning the financial end of your sales work, always bearing 
in mind that it sometimes takes time to solve such problems in 
an organization of this size. The man who has the difficult 
task of handling the Executive Department is John M. Compton. 


Importance of Accuracy 

This may be a good place to emphasize the importance of 
having all the reports and contracts you send in accurately 
and completely filled out. We have given vou here only a 
very brief and superficial survey of the details of the busi- 
ness, but even so you can guess what havoc can be caused by 
a carelessly written name or address or the omission of a bit 
of necessary information. 

Every question you are asked to answer, every blank you 
fill out means more work to the office force, and you may be 
sure that you will never be requested to answer or fill out 
anything that is not vitally essential to the welfare of the 
business. 


IV. A New Idea in Education 





asked to discuss the spirit of the Compton Service 

before a group of solicitors. At the close of the dis- 
cussion, a worker of long experience, who had listened some- 
what impatiently to the glowing description of the many 
merits of the work, said: 

“That’s all very fine and true. But we can’t tell a prospect 
all that you have told us. In the first place, it would take 
too long, and besides the average prospect wouldn’t under- 
stand more than half of it. What we need is some one thing 
that will convince the prospect quickly and clearly that 
C.P.E. is really new and different.”’ 

That was back in the early days, before we had worked 
out the answer to that all-important question in the form 
of a standard sales talk, and the speaker was puzzled for a 
ready reply. Riffing rapidly through the pages of the 
prospectus for some suggestion, he caught sight of the “Here 
and There” pages at the front and of the “Fact-Index” 
pages at the back of the pros. There was the answer in a 
nut-shell. 

“Tell the prospect,” he said, “that C.P.E. is the only 
reference work ever made that could have both of those 
features attached to it. They sum up the character and 
spirit of the work. Here you have at the beginning of each 
volume a section whose titles alone testify to the wealth of 
fascinating reading you have at your command. And here, 
at the end, you have the Index with which you can test at 
once the accuracy and completeness of the work. On the 
one hand, the books bring you interest and pleasure; on the 
other hand, quick and exact information on any subject.” 

Of course, there are many fine points about C.P.E. that 
are not covered by this thumb-nail summary. Nevertheless, 
the most important distinguishing feature of the Compton 
Service always has been and always will be this one great 
combination it has achieved of pleasure and usefulness. 

An Entirely New Idea 

There can be no question about the novelty of the idea. 
Anyone whose schooling dates back to the World War or 
before will realize how different were the old educational 
notions. Far from trying to make knowledge interesting, 
the text and reference books of those days made of education 


22 


@):.: of the men who helped to build C.P.E. was once 


Effect of the World War 23 








a stern discipline—the harder a subject, the better the dis- 
cipline. To say that a book on science or history was “‘popu- 
lar’? was the same as saying that it was superficial and in- 
accurate. True, there were a few independent writers who 
knew how to clothe sound knowledge in attractive garb, but 
their work did not penetrate the schools or the average 
American homes. The educators were suspicious of the 
“attractive garb” and the popular magazines were, for the 
most part, afraid that their readers would not be interested 
in “‘sound knowledge.” 

What did the World War do to change all this? Before 
the war, there were very few journalists or editors who had 
a clear and broad understanding of world geography, world 
history, international affairs, or the progress of science. But 
these things proved to be intimately associated with the 
daily news of the great struggle in Europe. In order to 
present this news to their readers in intelligible form, maga- 
zines and newspapers were compelled to educate themselves, 
and thus the new-found knowledge passed into general cir- 
culation, where, contrary to all expectations, it was received 
with great enthusiasm and interest. 

Meanwhile, a sense of new values and of the importance 
of education in practical affairs penetrated into the class- 
rooms of the nation. The old system, however successful it 
may have been with the few pupils who were naturally 
studious, had left a large proportion of the school graduates 
in a state of deplorable ignorance. The method of drill and 
discipline had, furthermore, instilled in these graduates such 
distaste for learning that they were seldom inclined in later 
life to add to their stock of general knowledge. 


The Demand for New Methods 

Hence there arose a demand for some new system of 
teaching that would impart in the same length of time to 
the boys and girls of the land a higher quality and a greater 
quantity of education than formerly. We need not concern 
ourselves here with the manner in which the schools have 
attempted to solve this problem. What interests us is the 
fact that everyone who thought about the problem at all— 
parents as well as educators—realized that the home had to 
play a more important part in education than ever before. 
Independent work and reading had to be encouraged. 

To accomplish this, it was absolutely necessary to arouse the 
children’s own interest and enthusiasm. And this had to be 
done not merely in a few subjects like Nature Study (in 
which children have always been more or less interested) 
but in all the subjects they were expected to study. 


Right Books Lacking 24 


The spirit of this broad policy could not be realized with- 
out suitable books, and these were lacking. There were 
many, many varieties of the story-book type, containing odds 
and ends of interesting information in haphazard arrange- 
ment—bits of history and biography, fragments of science, 
selections from literature, ete. Such books were attractive 
enough, but they tended to exaggerate marvels and to skip 
over difficulties. Neither complete nor accurate, their ar- 
rangement, furthermore, made such information as they 
contained hard to find. There was also the abridged en- 
cyclopedia (of which The New Student’s Reference Work 
was still the most successful example), where subjects were 
explained briefly and in simple language. Works of this 
type were complete enough and easy to use, but they lacked 
the necessary inspiration and attractiveness. 


A Preliminary Experiment 

It was at this point that the House of Compton took hold 
of the problem. You may be sure that the decision to scrap 
the old standbys and to build with new material upon en- 
tirely new foundations was not a decision made lightly. 
The Student’s had stood the test of years, had achieved an 
enormous financial success, and continued to find a large 
and steady market. When the need for something new first 
made itself felt, the House of Compton tried out a very 
costly experiment to see if the problem could not be met by 
supplementing the older work with a new one, featuring 
principally fine pictures and story material. 

This work—we will not mention it by name because the 
plates were later sold and copies may still be on the market 
—was to provide the interest and the inspiration, while The 
Student’s would continue giving the complete, alphabetically 
arranged information. The two together, it was hoped, would 
make an attractive home library of all-around usefulness. 

Many thousands of dollars were spent upon this experi- 
ment, and the finest talent was employed in working out 
every detail to the best advantage. But it only served to 
prove that half-measures were inadequate. The new age 
was calling for more than the addition of pictures and stories. 
It wanted the whole of knowledge taken out of its old academic 
mummy cases and inspired with a new human spirit. 

Already, before the World War was ended, the idea of a 
set of books made upon entirely new lines had been dis- 
cussed, and by January, 1919, the project was under way. 

The House of Compton knew exactly what it wanted. 
For a long time its field force had been interviewing more 
than half a million parents every year. From them we had 


Building from the Ground Up ZS 





learned bit by bit the practical and fundamental problems 
that mothers and fathers face in bringing up their children. 
We knew the kind of help they needed. But to put all that 
experience into suitable book form was a formidable task. 
We had no model to follow, no system already worked out 
for us. As you may imagine, the vast project of surveying, 
revaluing, and rearranging the whole structure of knowledge 
from the point of view of interest and modern usefulness 
required brains of uncommon breadth and insight. 


The Beginning of C. P. E. 


The first man outside the House of Compton who was 
approached on this subject was Guy Stanton Ford, Dean of 
the Graduate School and Professor of European History at 
the University of Minnesota. When he learned the scope of 
the enterprise, he was highly enthusiastic and embraced 
eagerly the-offer to supervise the entire work as editor-in- 
chief. 


If we had searched the world over, it is doubtful if another 
man could have been found so competent for the work as 
Dean Ford. He was already, of course, a noted historian 
and an experienced educator. But mark his special qualifi- 
cations! When the United States entered the World War, 
President Wilson realized how important it was that the 
public should understand the history of the war and its 
causes, the international questions at stake, and the charac- 
ter of the nations involved in it. For the first time, the 
American people were engaged in a conflict that had its root 
outside of America’s immediate affairs and interests. If they 
were to do their part intelligently, they must make as quickly 
as possible a study of world affairs from the American point 
of view. 


A Wonderful Training 


To carry out this design, there was organized the Division 
of Civic and Educational Publications, forming a branch of 
the Committee on Public Information. Dean Ford was 
appointed director of this great bureau. Under his guidance 
scores of experts, scholars, research workers, writers and 
others collaborated to produce the great mass of educa- 
tional books and pamphlets which were distributed by the 
government from one end of this country to the other. 

Fresh from this invaluable experience, full of the new 
spirit and the new ideas which grew out of the war and 
which he was in a better position to understand and express 
than any other man in America, Dean Ford plunged into 
the making of Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia. 


The Right Men for the Work 26 


When Dean Ford had accepted the task, he had done so 
on one condition—that he should be able to obtain the 
services aS managing editor of Samuel Bannister Harding, 
former Professor of History at the University of Indiana. 
Professor Harding had been associated with Dean Ford in 
war work, where his great knowledge of history, his ability 
as a writer, and his talent for organization had proved 
priceless. As the author of numerous excellent and widely 
used text books, he had had besides a valuable experience 
in the technical details of editing, printing, and publishing. 

It was eminently fitting that two historians should be 
the ones chosen to direct the making of C.P.E., for no other 
branch of knowledge is so broad and inclusive as history. 
A man may be a competent scientist and know little about 
literature, for instance. Or a man may have a remarkable 
grasp of literature, without understanding science. But a 
good historian has to know something of all subjects, for all 
of them—science, literature, geography, law, etc.—play a 
part in the history of the human race. 

Dean Ford and Professor Harding soon obtained the co- 
operation of leading experts in all departments of knowledge. 
The list of editors in the first volume of C.P.E. bear ample 
testimony on that point. We have not the space here to go 
over those names in detail. It is enough to know that each 
of those departmental and contributing editors did real work 
for C.P.E. Appreciating the importance of the new enter- 
prise in the field of education, they threw themselves into it 
with enthusiasm. 

How the big idea behind C.P.E. was worked out with 
their aid and the aid of staff writers, artists, and photog- 
raphers is told in the next chapter. 





UE 


PS 


V. The Making of C. P. E. 


ERE’S an astonishing fact that everyone ought to 
know who has the privilege of owning those ten 
volumes of C.P.E.—a fact that might never be sus- 

pected by those who have had no experience in such matters. 

It would have taken far less time and far less money if we 
had made the encyclopedia in fifteen volumes instead of keep- 
ing rt in ten volumes. 

This applies, of course, only to the editorial cost; the 
manufacturing cost of additional volumes, including addi- 
tional paper, printing, and binding, would have been greater 
and would necessarily have increased the selling price. But 
so far as the cost of preparing the articles is concerned, it 
would have been cheaper to have made them longer and to 
have had more of them. 

This sounds as if there were a trick in it somewhere; but 
there isn’t. A famous French writer—a woman by the way 
—once excused herself at the end of a letter to a friend, 
saying: “Please pardon this long letter, I did not have time 
to write a shorter one.” 

Was this a joke? Not at all. Brevity is the very soul of 
fine writing. To say the most in the least number of words 
is the mark of literary excellence. But this kind of writing 
takes time and talent and lots of hard work. 

yIt would have been a quick and easy way to make C.P.E., 
if the editors had accepted without question the articles 
sent in by the experts and specialists and had used those 
articles just as they were written. It would have made a 
much longer encyclopedia as well as a much less interesting 
one, because men who have devoted their lives to special 
studies in physics, chemistry, biology, geography, etc., sel- 
dom know the art of saying the most in the least number 
of words. 


Skillful Writers Employed 


The editorial offices of C.P.E. were opened in the Garland 
Building, Chicago, in January, 1919, and Dean Ford and 
Professor Harding went to work. After a careful preliminary 
survey, the first thing the editors did was to begin engaging 
a staff of skillful writers—men and women who had had 
experience in newspaper and magazine work, who knew 
how to make the most difficult subject clear and the dullest 
subject interesting. 


7h 


How C.P.E. was Written 28 








‘Then here’s what happened. As fast as the experts and 
specialists sent in their articles, the staff writers went to 
work on them. They were rewritten, rearranged, the tech- 
nical language and involved explanations were translated 
into clear and simple language, the most interesting facts 
were brought to the surface, and the most commonplace 
facts were made to sparkle with a new light. 

It was the ideal of the Compton editorial staff to make 
each article a single compact unit, like a short story; to 
arouse interest with the very first sentence and to keep that 
interest alive to the very last word; to have each part lead- 
ing naturally to the next, each bit helping to explain what 
went before and preparing the way for what followed. 

Not so Simple as It Seems 

It would be impossible to give a person unfamiliar with 
editorial problems an understanding of the tremendous 
amount of work involved in carrying out this ideal. We 
have seen with our own eyes one of the Compton writers 
struggle a whole day to complete a single paragraph— 
changing a word here, rearranging a sentence there, fighting 
to make it clear, to get the right ring and swing into the 
style, to squeeze in just one more little bit of information, 
and squeeze out just one more drop of waste wording. 

And when he was through, the result seemed so very, 
very simple, so easy to read. “Of course,” you would think, 
“that’s just the way it ought to be written—the natural 
way. Who would think of writing it any other way?” 

But to get that “natural” touch, that “easy-to-read” 
quality into C.P.E. meant months and years of the most 
grueling labor and the hardest kind of mental effort on the 
part of men and women whose whole lives had been devoted 
to writing. 

Remember, interest had to be obtained without exaggerat- 
mg any marvels and clearness had to be achieved without 
dodging any difficulties. 

Many a long article was completely rewritten four or five 
times. You see, after the staff writer had recast the expert’s 
article, it had to go back to the expert again to make sure 
that nothing had been left out and nothing misinterpreted. 
You would naturally suppose that the famous specialists 
would have objected to having their contributions torn apart 
and written over by our staff workers; and, indeed, it was a 
delicate matter to handle at first. But as soon as those 
eminent authorities understood the great purpose of C.P.E. 
and realized how well it was being carried out, they co- 
operated enthusiastically. In the end, each article bore two 


di 
. 


The Greatest Secret of All 29 








stamps of approval—the stamp of the specialist for ac- 
curacy, scholarship, and completeness, and the stamp of 
the skillful writer for clearness and interest. 

For the first time in the history of reference books, the 
men who KNEW the facts worked with the men who knew 
HOW TO TELL the facts. 

That’s perhaps the greatest single reason which accounts 
for the difference of C.P.E. 

In addition to the regular encyclopedic articles, the House 
of Compton decided to include a bountiful selection of 
animal stories for little children, stories from mythology 
and literature, examples of the work of great authors, anec- 
dotes from the lives of famous men and women, and charac- 
ter-building talks—all of which enriched the usefulness of 
C.P.E. and contributed to its many-sided appeal. 


How C. P. E. Got Its Middle Name 


There are men in the jungles of India, in remote islands 
of the South Seas, and in far-away stations of central Africa 
who knew about C.P.E. long before our next-door neigh- 
bors. They are the men who happened to own some rare 
photographs which the House of Compton needed for its 
new work and which the House of Compton set out to get— 
and got! 

Those of you who don’t know the picture game, the fierce 
struggle and competition for photographs and original draw- 
ings carried on by newspapers, magazines, book publishers, 
motion picture services, and private collectors, can’t possi- 
bly form an idea of what it means to get together such a 
collection of illustrations as you find in the pages of C.P.E. 

You think photographs are common. They are—as com- 
mon as Brownie cameras in drugstore windows. But good 
photographs—genuine, life-like nature pictures, action pic- 
tures, close-ups of people in foreign lands, pictures that are 
clear and mean something—are mighty rare. How did we 
get so many? 

First we exhausted the possibilities of the 30 or more 
well-established picture agencies in this country. Then we 
got in.touch with the big museums and art galleries, with 
travellers and lecturers, with big commercial and industrial 
establishments, and with government bureaus, all of which 
made a specialty of illustrating nature, or art, or geography, 
or science, or industry, or some other essential subject. 
Here, too, we soon ran out of material suited to the Comp- 
ton standards. 

Then we went abroad. We found that England was the 
most fertile field, because Englishmen are great picture 


Selecting from Half a Million 30 
—_—_—_—_—____==_=======—S===—_==SSSSSS=[_==_EE———E_E 
takers and are constantly travelling to the four corners of 
the British Empire. So it is natural that thousands of un- 
usual photographs from every land and clime are constantly 
finding their way back to the great London collections. 

Greatest of these, from the educational point of view, was 
the James Press, Inc. So the House of Compton bought 
out the James Press, lock, stock, and barrel, and not only 
imported the entire collection to this country, paying tre- 
mendous customs duties, but also brought over for two 
years’ stay the leading picture expert of the James Press, 
who knew where could be found any picture not already in 
the collection. 

Even with this vast collection to draw from, there were 
hundreds of pictures needed in the C.P.E. plan which were 
still lacking. So the House of Compton employed photog- 
raphers to go out and make them—the first of their kind. 
Examples of these are the series illustrating the important 
steps in the work of all the great American industries. 

Artists are Put to Work 

Then, to carry out the numerous ideas that could not be 
expressed by photographs, the House of Compton obtained 
the services of scores of skillful artists, who either joined 
our art department or worked in close cooperation with it. 
Drawings and paintings by the hundreds were submitted 
and passed through the acid test of criticism. 

Altogether more than half a million good pictures were 
critically examined in making the selections for C.P.E. In 
other words, for every picture you see in C.P.E. today, more 
than sixty good ones were thrown aside as not quite up to 
standard. 

You know the results of all this work. There is a picture 
in C.P.E. for every idea that needs a picture, and there is 
an idea in every C.P.E. picture. Nowhere did we insert a 
picture just to look pretty or fill up space. Every picture 
had to do some real work or it could not hold its job. 

We have weighed our words carefully and we mean ex- 
actly what we say when we tell you that no collection of 
pictures has ever been published in this country or any other 
country that can equal the collection in C.P.E. 

Making the Pictures Talk 

The value of this collection is more than doubled by the 
text which explains and emphasizes the important details 
of each picture. This alone took almost a year to prepare, 
and stands, as the Standard Sales Talk points out, in marked 
contrast to the usual method of dismissing illustrations with 
a mere label. The members of the Caption Department, 


The Final Touch of Perfection 31 





who had charge of this work, examined each picture with 
the utmost care, imagining every question a curious child or 
an inquiring grownup might want to ask about it. These 
were then answered as fully as possible. 

Last of all came the preparation of the Study Outlines 
and the Fact-Index. Each of these departments of C.P.E. 
was built along entirely new lines, adapted to the novel 
character and purpose of the entire ara 

The Outlines, instead of following the old-type skeleton 
form containing merely titles of articles and page num- 
bers, were made readable and informative in themselves. 
They were enriched, furthermore, with Interest-Questions, 
classified lists of pictures, and bibliographies. 


The Wonderful Fact-Index 


t-I as a distinct Compton4 tion. No 
enterprise of such scope an variety of usefulness 


has ever before been carried out in connection with a work 
of reference. In the first place, it gives page references to 
every bit of information and to every picture in C.P.E. 
In the second place, when a subject carries more than one 
reference, each of them is identified by some word or phrase, 
so the user knows exactly what detail of the subject he may 
expect to find on each page indicated. 

This means that every bit of the wealth of material packed 
into the first nine volumes is readily available to the user. 
Nothing is lost through the difficulty of finding it, nor is 
time wasted hunting through many references and articles 
for the specific information desired. 

In addition to these improved index features, the Fact- 
Index provides the following features which you will find in 
no other index ever printed: 

It gives pronunciations and defines unusual words. 
It locates any city, state, river, lake, mountain, 
cape, bay, or island you =H ever find mentioned in 
general reading. It gives areas, populations, chief 
products, and other important statistics. It con- 
tains brief biographies of figures in history. It 
identifies clearly all important characters in litera- 
ture and mythology. It has ‘‘Who’s Who”’ sketches 

of prominent men and women of today. 

This means that the C.P.E. user is given a tremendous 
amount of additional information of great value which could 
not otherwise have been included in the limits of ten vol- 
umes. It means also that he can find quick answers to all 
ordinary fact-questions right in the index itself, without 
having to go any further. 


The One Great Aim 32 








The Standard Sales Talk contains practical demonstrations 
of the value of the Outlines, the Fact-Index, the Picture 
Text, and other special C.P.E. features. All we need add 
here is that every one of these features was planned and 
worked out at great labor and expense for the sole purpose 
of making C.P.E. supremely attractive, entertaining, and— 
above all—useful. 


SUMMING UP 


(From the Foreword to C.P.E.) 









In closing three years service as 
Fditor-in-Chief, I may be permitted a 
few words of commendation and appre- 
ciation to all the scholars who have re- 
sponded promptly and heartily to requests 
for their aid and cooperation, to the staff 
of writers, artists, and map-makers who 
have labored in season and out with zeal 
and unwavering fidelity to the ideals set 
at the beginning. 


And I speak not only for myself but for 
the whole staff when I say that no group 
engaged ina similar project has had more 
consistent and loyal support than we 
have had from the publishers of this work. 
They have shared our every purpose as 
here expressed, and have never counted 
the cost of any plan or request that would 
make these volumes more nearly realize 
this new conception of an educational 
work, 























Guy Stanton Ford 
Editor-in-Chief. 






VI. C. P. E. Goes to Press 


ID you know that there is a set of C.P.E. so valuable 
1) that it is kept constantly locked up under heavy in- 
surance in the safety deposit vaults of one of Chi- 

cago’s largest banks? 

You would have a hard time reading that set, for it weighs 
about three tons, the words are all backwards, and the pic- 
tures don’t look like pictures at all. The pages are all made 
of lead and zine and copper and nickel. 

That is the “master” set, the first set of C.P.E. ever made, 
which cost half a million dollars and nearly four years’ work 
to produce. On those metal pages, boxed up in the dark 
bank vault, is recorded all the thought and art and labor of 
all the editors, specialists, writers, artists, and photographers 
who worked out the C.P.E. ideal. 

Those pages are the “pattern plates,’ far too valuable 
themselves to run the risk of marring and breakage on the 
printing presses, but used to make the “running plates” 
with which each successive edition of C.P.E. is printed. 
When a running plate is broken, a new one can easily be 
made from the corresponding pattern plate; but if one of 
the “patterns” should be injured or destroyed, it would be 
an exceedingly long and costly process to replace it. That’s 
why they are kept in the bank vault and when one of them 
has to be taken out, it is handled and protected like so much 
fine gold. 


Things That Make a Difference 


The story of how the articles and pictures for C.P.E. 
passed from the hands of the editorial department to be 
transformed into metal plates and how these transformed 
them in turn into printed pages and bound books is a fas- 
cinating story which we have not space to relate in detail 
here. But among the wonder-working processes of modern 
bookmaking used in producing C.P.E. were some that every 
member of our sales force should understand, because they 
gave our books certain exceptionally fine qualities which 
distinguish them sharply from other reference works. These 
qualities are often overlooked or taken for granted. 

Consider, for instance, the general make-up of the pages 
of C.P.E. What is it that makes them pleasing and attrac- 
tive to the eye? Compare them to the pages in any other 
illustrated work you may have at hand. What is responsible 


33 


Planning Beautiful Pages 34 
—EEEIII>>>>>>>>>>>___=_{[={[={x{_—{"[{[aa"anBnBnBnBnBnBhBS—™TX 
for that marked difference? An expert printer or an expe- 
rienced artist could tell you at a glance, but very few lay- 
men would know. 

That charm is produced by the skillful arrangement and 
balance of type and pictures on the pages. Of course, the 
technical quality of pictures has something to do with it, 
as we shall show later on. But the same pictures and the 
same type might have been distributed in such a way that 
all that fine charm would have been lost. Indeed, this would 
have been the easiest and cheapest way to do it. 

You will notice, for instance, that most illustrated books 
have their type and pictures on separate pages. When they 
do appear together, the pictures run the full width of the 
page or are cut down to the width of a single column. More- 
over the pictures are all rectangular in shape. This is done 
to save the expense and trouble of arranging type around 
odd-sized or odd-shaped illustrations. But the result is a 
deadly monotony. 

Example of Artistic Composition 

Now look at C.P.E. Consider, for instance, the first page 
of the “Nature Study” article in your prospectus (p. 2407). 
The upper picture has lettering on it, done by hand to suit 
the background in an informal way. The bottom of the 
picture, instead of being square, fades off to a point on the 
left-hand side, leading the eye naturally down to the begin- 
ning of the article, and leaving room for the legend at the 
right. This legend, instead of being the same width as the 
type below, is somewhat wider, bridging the gap between 
the two columns. The lower picture is centered on the page, 
with the text of the article running snugly around it. 

The result of all this is that the lettering and the pictures 
and the type fit together into a pleasing unity of design. 
The average reader would not be able to analyze as we have 
done the reasons for his pleasure in that page, but he would 
feel it none the less, because the rules of artistic composition 
have their root in the laws of human psychology. 

The full page of cat pictures (p. 659) is another example 
of careful and artistic arrangement. Notice how the varied 
ovals and oblongs lap over and blend one into the other, 
forming an harmonious and unified page, although it con- 
sists of six separate pictures. The “Carpenter Bee’’ picture 
(p. 363) illustrates vividly another principle of make-up. 
That diagonal arrangement, with the type and legend fit- 
ting around the illustration, catches the eye immediately. 
Half of the life and action of that picture would vanish, if 
it were squared off in an upright position. 


2 
- 


Reproducing the Pictures 35 








Compare these pages we have mentioned with the ar- 
rangement of the sample from the “Flower” article (p. 1310). 
Here we were compelled to place the pictures in “railroad 
track” formation, so that each numbered paragraph of the 
text would come under its corresponding illustration. Occa- 
sionally this sort of make-up is necessary, but it certainly 
is not attractive or beautiful. Yet this is the wswal way of 
arranging all pictures in illustrated works. 

To avoid the commonplace in make-up, to achieve the 
maximum beauty and attractiveness in the pages of C.P.E. 
required unusual artistic talent, prolonged labor, and large 
sums of money. Each page presented separate problems— 
getting the pictures to suitable shape and size, placing them 
to the best advantage (always bearing in mind that every 
picture had to be with the article it illustrated), fitting the 
type in place, so that articles and paragraphs would not 
start on the last line nor end on the first line of any column, 
and so on. 

The Value of Half-Tone Pictures 

In connection with the technical quality of the pictures 
in C.P.E. it is important to know how they compare with 
the old-style encyclopedia. By technical quality we mean 
how faithfully they reproduce the original photographs or 
drawings. Two methods are commonly used for illustrating 
books today. One is the line etching process, and the other 
is the half-tone process. 

We need not go into the details of these processes, except 
to distinguish their final appearance. The beginning of the 
article on ‘Literature for Children” in your prospectus 
(p. 2027) is decorated with a line etching, commonly called 
a “zine.” You will notice that the picture consists entirely 
of pure black lines and patches. It is possible by this process 
to obtain a picture with a certain kind of gray shading by 
having dots or lines close together. But you cannot repro- 
duce with it a photograph or a drawing with solid tones. It 
requires a line drawing. 

This kind of illustration is a direct descendant of the old 
wood-cut. It is almost universally used in reference works 
and illustrated dictionaries. It is the cheapest form of illus- 
tration, not only because of its original low cost but also 
because it can be printed on almost any kind of paper. In 
C.P.E. it was used only for diagrams and decorations. 

The half-tone process is recognized as the standard for 
high grade illustrations. The copper plate or “cut” with 
which such illustrations are printed is produced by a delicate 
and complicated process, the details of which are fully de- 


Beauty is Expensive 36 





scribed in C.P.E. under the article ‘““Engraving.”’ It is suffi- 
cient here to point out that half-tones are made up of minute 
dots, which spread out enough to overlap in the black parts 
of a picture and which are smaller and with more white 
space between as the tones shade off into white. The picture 
of the ‘“‘Eclipse’’ (p. 1075) shows particularly well what deli- 
cate variations of tone can be reproduced by this method. 
With a fairly strong magnifying glass, you will be able to 
see the dots clearly. There are 14,400 of them to the square 
inch. 

The cost of a half-tone cut is one-third greater than a 
zine. Because of the fineness of the dots and the accuracy 
with which they must register, cuts of the quality used in 
C.P.E. require a smooth, high-grade paper. You have 
noticed how many books contain full-page illustrations or 
‘plates’? inserted on heavier, smoother paper than the rest 
of the pages. That is because the half-tone could not be 
properly printed on the regular paper. 

Ninety-five per cent of all the illustrations in C. P.E. are 
half-tones. 


Sean Detail 
The Standard’ Sales talk mentions the fact that the paper 


used in C.P.E. is specially made for us and bears the name 
“Compton’s English Finish.” Smooth, and yet free from 
the glare that is so bad for the eyes, the paper is also distin- 
guished by its rare combination of whiteness and density— 
you will notice that the printing does not show through on 
the reverse side of the pages, as is so often the case. The pulp 
from which it is manufactured is made in Sweden from trees 
grown in the cold latitudes of Finland and northern Russia, 
where wood develops a specially long and tough fiber. This 
pulp is imported and made into paper in a Massachusetts 
mill, where one great machine does nothing else all the year 
around except turn out Compton’s English Finish. 

We could fill another chapter with interesting stories 
about the manufacture of C.P.E.—the difficulties of get- 
ting the proper ink, the countless details of printing, how the 
wonderful color illustrations are reproduced, the many 
processes gone through i in binding the books, etc. But what 
we have told you is enough to show how the ideals of qual- 
ity and usefulness govern the manufacturing end of C.P.E. 
just as they governed the editorial end. 


GS 


VII. The Great Success of C. P. E. 


N ORDER to understand the amazingly rapid and un- 
rivalled success of C.P.E. from the very first day of 
publication, we must remember in what sharp contrast 

it stood with all other reference books on the market. 

What was the situation before Compton’s? If you wanted 
accuracy and completeness, you had to go to one set of 
books; if you wanted inspiration and interest, you had to 
seek it in another set; if you desired character-building 
material, you went to a third; children’s stories were found 
in a fourth; stories from literature in a fifth; and so on. If 
the books you bought had good pictures, the text was weak 
and fragmentary; if the text was good, the pictures were 
few or of poor quality. 

To get a complete and well-rounded reference library for 
your home, you had to buy three or four different sets of 
books at great expense. And then you would probably dis- 
cover that one set was too dull to use, another too difficult 
to understand, another too incomplete to be serviceable, and 
another too sensational and exaggerated to be reliable. 

No Wonder It Succeeded! 

Then, in the midst of this situation, there suddenly ap- 
peared a set of books which contained in itself alone all of 
the wealth of material and all of the fine qualities that any- 
one could seek—accuracy, completeness, interest, countless 
pictures, character-building talks, stories for little children, 
stories from literature, tables, statistics, outlines, guides to 
good reading, etc. Do you wonder that C.P.E. was received. 
with enthusiasm? 

The very first glance at C.P.E. revealed its fascination 
and charm, and the longer it was used the more of its endless. 
and varied riches came to light. 

Perhaps the greatest test of all was this: No one before 
Compton’s ever read the articles in encyclopedias for the 
pure pleasure of it—not even in the best of the old-style 
home reference works such as The New Student’s. But in 
C.P.E. people found that they had bought a set of refer- 
ence books which turned out to be a whole library of fasci- 
nating literature. 

Acclaimed by the Schools 

The first to grasp the importance of the new publication 

were the educators of America. It so happened that the 


37 


The Little Girl and the Scientist 38 





very week when the first copies of C.P.E. were coming from 
the bindery, the Department of Superintendence of the 
National Education Association was holding its convention 
in Chicago. In attendance were virtually all of the men and 
women who were then in the midst of reshaping the educa- 
tional methods of the public schools from one end of America 
to the other. 

The problem-project method, the socialized recitation 
system, and other devices for adjusting the schools to the 
needs of the new age were being developed. Everyone was 
calling urgently for new material to make the new methods 
effective. 

C.P.E. seemed to them a direct answer to their call. It 
would be impossible to exaggerate the enthusiasm with which 
it was received. From the radical school reformer to the 
most conservative old-timer, they welcomed it with open 
arms. They saw that it included all that was sound in the 
new ideas without sacrificing anything of value in the old. 

These educators, returning to their homes, carried with 
them the great news. They wrote hundreds of letters of 
praise, and the most liberal, unqualified praise came from 
those school men who had delved deepest and gained the 
most renown in modern educational work. No other set of 
books ever won fame so quickly. 

Enthusiasm in the Homes 

Equally spontaneous was the enthusiasm aroused in the 
first homes where C.P.E. was used. The stream of letters 
began which has continued to flow in to the House of Compton 
ever since, from mothers, fathers, and children, telling us how 
attractive, how interesting, how useful they found our books. 

Think of it! In the same mail we get a letter from a man 
like Edwin E. Slosson, a noted scientific writer, and one from 
a 7-year-old school girl, both telling how fascinating they 
find the books and ‘how much they are helped by them in 
their work. 

Can you explain it? Do you know why C.P.E. appeals so 
universally to young and old alike, why fathers who buy the 
books for their children end up by reading them themselves? 
It is a simple secret. The late G. Stanley Hall, one of the 
most noted writers on psychology and education of this 
generation, expressed it well when he said: ‘‘No book is good 
enough for a child which a grown-up person cannot fully 
enjoy.” 

There are not two ways of telling the truth—one for 
children and another for grown-ups. There is only one 
way—and that is to make every bit of information as 


International Triumphs 39 


clear, accurate, and interesting as possible. That is the 
way C.P.E. tells the truth. Told that way, it appeals to 
everyone. 

No adult would think of claiming that he or she wants 
things made complicated or dull. And no child really enjoys 
books that are ‘‘written down” to him, that are trifling and 
babyish. 

The only difference that exists is a difference in the kind of 
facts that people are interested in. A business man may be 
more interested in the article on Taxation than he is in the 
article on Turtles, a child may care more about Earthworms 
than about Economics; but whatever it is that they seek, ’ 
they each want it told in a straightforward, interesting way 
—the C.P.E. way. 

It is amusing to look back now to the prophecies made by 
several experienced subscription book publishers when C.P.E. 
first came out. They said that a set of books which cost so 
much to manufacture could not be made a commercial suc- 
cess! According to their old standards, we had spent entirely 
too much money putting quality into the work! 


Success Spreads to Europe 

American publishers were not the only ones to recognize the 
quality of C.P.E. Its fame soon became international. Less 
than three months after publication, Cassell & Company of 
London, one of the largest publishing houses in the world, 
recognizing in C.P.E. an entirely new force in the educational 
world and one whose value was universal, sought and obtained 
from the House of Compton the rights to publication in the 
British Empire. They have since brought out the work as 
“Cassell’s Book of Knowledge.” 

It has had an amazing success, eclipsing, according to one 
authority, all previous records for reference books; and this is 
in England where competition in this line is stronger, per- 
haps, than anywhere else in the world. Nor was the enthusi- 
asm with which the work was received confined to the United 
Kingdom. It spread to the British colonies and dominions— 
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, and everywhere 
the British flag flies. 

England which for generations had been making encyclo- 
pedias for Americans took an American-made encyclopedia to 
educate English children! 

A year later Italian publishers began to bid for the privilege 
of translation and publication. Under the regime of Premier 
Mussolini popular education had received a new impetus in 
Italy. C.P.E. was exactly what was needed to fill out the 
program. In the end it was the Casa Editrice A. Mondadori 


The Test of Time 40 


which obtained the contract. There, too, C.P.E. demon- 
strated once more its universal appeal, winning favor in 
schools as well as homes. 

This brief review of the rapid rise of C.P.E. to high success 
is enough to show how strong is its immediate appeal, how 
powerfully it attracts people from the very first glance, 
proving that the House of Compton was right in its analysis 
of what the modern world wanted. The test of time, the 
daily use of C.P.E. over a long period in countless homes and 
schools, proves likewise the solid and lasting value of the 
work. Promising a great deal on the surface, i delivers in 
the long run even more than it promises. It is the standard 
today by which other educational books are judged. 





WHY HE SUCCEEDED 


Mr. Maydole, one of the leading ham- 
mer manufacturers of the world, was tell- 
. ing how he made his fortune. 


“Yes,” he said, “for twenty-eight years 
I have made hammers and nothing but 
hammers.” 


“Well,” said the interviewer, “‘you 
ought to make a pretty good hammer by 
this time.” 


““What? ”’ shouted the nettled million- 
aire. “I never made a pretty good ham- 
mer. I make the best hammer there is!” 





VIII. The Compton Service 





supplement to C.P.E. in the spring of 1924 produced 

the combination which has been known ever since as 
“The Compton Service.”’ And that’s the way we must always 
think of C.P.E. and C.P.N.—as interlocking departments of 
a single great service, each helping the other, each making 
the other much more efficient than it would be alone. 

For several years prior to the appearance of C.P.N. there . 
had been encyclopedias on the market which offered their 
subscribers annual or semi-annual supplements designed to 
keep the books up to date. These supplements consisted of 
articles, alphabetically arranged, dealing with the new events 
in the world’s history. It was intended that these new pages 
should be kept with the regular set and be used for reference 
when the need arose. 

The idea of keeping an encyclopedia up to date was, of 
course, a very good one and it appealed strongly to many 
prospects. The only question was whether the obvious 
method of sending additional pages every so often to sub- 
scribers was the best way of accomplishing this purpose. 


How the Old System Worked 

The House of Compton investigated the whole matter and 
here is what was discovered: In actual practice very few sub- 
scribers ever used these annual or semi-annual supplements. 
They were received, thrust into the bookshelves, and duly 
forgotten. What could not be found in the regular volumes 
would seldom be sought through the supplementary ones. 

The House of Compton was unwilling, merely for the sake 
of providing one more point for a sales talk, to add a supple- 
ment to C.P.E. which would not be put to actual profitable 
use by our subscribers. After long study and consideration 
of various alternatives, the idea embodied in C.P.N. was 
worked out. 

Here we eran fe our subscribers while 
the new s-still fresh. It is intensely inter- 
esting in itself, full of wonderful pictures and of entertaining 
and instructive features in addition to the regular articles 
on current events. It is read by every member of the family 
at the time it ts received. Then the copies can be filed away 
with their yearly index, so that it serves equally well for 
future reference. 


“as launching of Compton’s Pictured Newspaper as a 


41 


A Twofold Purpose 42 


In other words, C.P.N. is not only a supplement which 


keeps C.P.E. up to date just as well as the best of the old-. 


time supplements could have done, but it has also all the 
attractiveness and current interest of a fine news-magazine. 
Homes and schools receive from it 100 per cent service. 


The ‘‘Service’’ Idea in Sales 


C.P.N. helps furthermore to stimulate the continued use 


of C.P.E. on part of subscribers. The Compton Service is 
thus a complete educational service, providing the great 
foundation and background of knowledge and continually 
building on that foundation from day to day. 

We repeat that it is of the utmost importance to all our 
salespeople to emphasize this idea of the Compton Service 
to the prospect. A set of books, no matter how fine they 
may be, and a newspaper, no matter how interesting, do not 
carry the same force of appeal as a “‘service.”” The very 
name carries with it a suggestion of. something new and con- 
tinually useful. It carries over to the prospect better than 
any lengthy description could the real purpose of C.P.E. 
and C.P.N. 


Uy 


TINS 


a 


The 
BUSINESS BUILDER 





a> 





PeAVR aia LW. 


The Sale 
Page 
IX. Your Mental Attitude. .45 
X. Analysis of a Sale...... 51 
XLS Preparation==.) 6. 4a. Do 
OSU AD PLOACI eter 70 
XIII. Gaining Attention..... TG 
XIV. Arousing Interest...... 82 
XV. Creating Desire........ 95 


XVI. Impelling Action.....108 
XVII. Meeting Objections.. .118 





IX. Your Mental Attitude 








E HAVE told you the story of the Compton Service 
—its origin, its development, and its success. The 
remainder of this little book will be devoted to 
discussions of the practical business of selling the Compton 
Service in the field. We believe that you will find on the 
succeeding pages directions and suggestions covering every 
detail of your work. These are the boiled down, concentrated 
results of many years’ experience with many thousands of: 
workers like yourself. With this help at hand and your own 
natural ability, the way lies clear before you. And you may 
be sure you have plenty of natural ability, else you would 
never have been selected for this work; the House of Comp- 
ton cannot afford to build with poor materials. 

Only one thing remains to determine the measure of your 
success. And that thing is your own mental attitude toward 
your work. 

Ability, knowledge, training, experience won’t make you 
a success in this work, if your mental attitude is wrong. For 
the sake of making this important point clear, let us outline 
an example of each type of mental attitude. 


Wrong Mental Attitude: Think of yourself as a ‘‘mere book agent.”’ 
Persuade yourself that people dislike book agents. Imagine that most 
prospects are annoyed when you call on them. Convince yourself that 
people are not interested in books and that you have to fight hard 
and use tricky methods to sell them. Say to yourself that if the 
Compton Service were really as wonderful as we claim, we wouldn’t 
have to call on people in their homes and urge them to buy it. Think 
of your work just as a ‘‘commercial proposition’’ and feel ashamed to 
use emotional appeals to obtain orders. Believe that you are in this 
work just for the commissions you get out of it and wish all the time 
that you knew of some other way of earning the same amount of 
money. 

Be always on the defensive. Carry a chip on your shoulder. Imagine 
that prospects are constantly trying to rebuff you. Persuade yourself 
that parents hate to have strangers suggest ways of helping their 
children. Imagine that parents know exactly what they want and 
what they need and that it is impertinent on your part to offer advice. 
And finally, as a result of all these wrong-headed notions, be con- 
vinced that you are belittling yourself when you call on people in 
their homes, that they have an advantage over you, and that you are 
in the position of one begging a favor from some one who is better 
than you are. 


There you have the complete formula for failure. Of 
course if you harbored all of these notions at the same time, 
you wouldn’t even try to work. But any one of them linger- 
ing around in the back of your mind is enough to cripple 
your chances. People will take you at your own valuation. 
You cannot conceal your true feelings enough but what they 


45 


The Service You Render 46 


will be reflected in your manner; and if you feel inferior, 
you will be treated accordingly. 

A high-grade bond salesman can behave so that people 
will think he is a wild-cat promoter; a lawyer can be mis- 
taken for a shyster; a good doctor can be taken for a quack; 
and a Compton representative can appear to be a back-door 
peddler. It all depends upon the presence or absence of 
pride in their work and self-confidence. 

Right Mental Attitude: Think of your work as a service 
and of yourself as an expert in that service. Remember 
that the kind of service you offer is something that every 
home needs and that can be obtained in no other way. Bear 
in mind when you are calling on prospects that you are 
bringing them something which (whether they realize it 
immediately or not) is worth far more to them than the 
money they pay out. Remember how the Compton Service 
was prepared, with what labor and brainwork on the part 
of some of the greatest educators in the world. And never 
forget that the only way all this labor and brainwork can 
become effective is through you. 

Realize that nine mothers out of every ten you talk to 
are as much in need of help and guidance as little children. 
They may seem very dignified and positive and sure of 
themselves, but when they face the endless problems con- 
nected with bringing up children, every last one of them 
needs help and lots of it. If a mother sometimes appears 
curt and impatient, remember that she is probably feeling 
the weight of those very problems. She is the one who needs 
your help the most. 

Behave toward your prospects as a good teacher toward 
her pupils or as a doctor toward his patients. Be tolerant 
with them, humor them if necessary, but do not give too 
much weight to the little excuses and objections they raise. 
Your experience is broader than theirs, your training and 
education is usually superior, your judgment sounder, and 
your character stronger. It is your duty to help them make 
the decision you know is best for them. 

On the business side, remember that you are an inde- 
pendent worker. The House of Compton is not paying you 
wages for hours of work. In a sense it is the prospect who 
pays you for the expert service you render. Helping her to 
overcome her ignorance or prejudice or indifference is as 
much a part of that service as showing her the books and 
how to use them to the best advantage. This is the real test 
of your expertness. The more people you help in this way, 
the greater your reward. 


Doing, Not Preaching 47 
a 


‘Remember that no single prospect is essential to your 
suecess. Give every one the best you have to give. When 
you have done that, you can do no more. If the prospect 
still persists in refusing your services, do not get angry or 
downhearted. She is the loser, not you. There are millions 
of other prospects awaiting you; but there is only one Comp- 
ton Service. Be sorry for her and particularly for her chil- 
dren. But don’t waste any sympathy on yourself. By the 
law of averages that one failure has brought you one step 
nearer to your next success. 

eet: 


To sum all this up, remember every day of your life that 
you are engaged in the most honorable profession in the 
world—you are the missionary of a finer education. You are 
actually doing what so many good people only talk about— 
you are actually making the world better and helping boys 
and girls to grow up into finer and happier men and women. 
You are not doing it by sitting on committees, or drawing 
up resolutions, or passing laws, or calling in the police, or 
preaching to people from on high. You are doing it by going 
right into homes, talking to mothers, fathers, and children, 
and making them want the things that mean so much to 
them. 

* * 

And you are not doing this with one hand while the other 
hand is held out for charity. You are an independent, self- 
supporting missionary, making the good you do pay its 
own way, arousing people to self-reliance instead of depend- 
ence on others. 

If you know of any other kind of work where so much real 
public service is given or where the energy you apply goes 
more directly toward creating happiness, we wish you would 
tell us what it is. We don’t know of any such work. 


* * * 


Think of this and think of it hard. If you have persuaded 
the mothers of ten, or a hundred, or a thousand children to 
give those children the advantages you have to offer, then 
there are ten, or a hundred, or a thousand children upon 
whose lives you have left a permanent mark for good. They 
may not remember you, but they will never forget what you 
brought them. 

‘Ten, twenty, fifty years hence there will be men and 
women in America who will owe the happiness and success 
they enjoy then to the fact that you once walked up to their 
parents’ door and rang the bell. 


Two Great Rules 48 


This is an extract from a speech made by J. R. Hamilton before 
a group of beginners in salesmanship at a sales convention in 
Chicago in 1924. Mr. Hamilton is a nationally known sales 
expert. He gives us here a clear and forceful statement of the good 
salesman’s attitude toward his prospects. 


| The Salesman's Point of View | 


By J. R. HAMILTON 


LEASE fix in your mind, first of all, one thing, namely that 
any kind of individual selling represents an interview. If you 
go to your boss for a raise you are going to him for an interview, 
—you are going to have to talk to him. If you go out for a new 
job you are going out to an interview. You are going to talk 
to the person who has the power to hire you. If you are going 
out to sell something you are going out to hold an interview 
with somebody. 

Now, there are only two rules in selling anything—never 
any more, never any less. And two rules ought not to be hard 
to remember. I am going to give them to you together and then 
explain them to you separately afterwards. The two rules of 
selling are: 

No. 1.—WNever lose sight of your objective. 

No. 2.—Dominate the interview or get out. 

Pin these rules to your skin if you have to, but never lose 
them. Those two rules will sell anybody anything. 

Now let us study them. First—Never lose sight of your 
objective: A woman goes in to her boss to get an increase in 
salary. That is not a pleasant situation for a boss to meet. If 
she gets more money, he gets less money—perfectly simple. 
So, what does he do? Nearly always one of two things. He side- 
tracks her or he gets mad. As a rule he gets mad. He begins 
to talk about all the troubles of his business. He begins to 
complain about the help. Before the girl knows it, she’s mad. 
She’s probably been working harder than ever in order to get 
that raise. She begins defending herself, she loses sight of her 
objective, and she doesn’t get it. Now that girl only went after 
one thing—she went after money. If she wanted to pick a 
quarrel she could have picked one any place. If she wanted to 
listen to flattery she could have gotten that. But what she was 
after was money, and the moment she lost sight of her objective 
her opportunity was gone. 

A salesman goes out to sell something. He meets a cross 
buyer or a cross prospect. The man tells him he doesn’t want 
to see any salesmen, that he’s too busy to have his time taken 
up. The poor salesman is personally insulted. He listens to 
what the man says, he fights or he cringes—but he doesn’t 
make the sale. In responding to the mood of the other man he 
has lost sight of his objective. 








Stick to Your Objective 49 


Not so with the good salesman. He is not interested in what 
the other man says, or thinks, or does. The other man might 
just as well be a wooden Indian in front of a cigar store for all 
he is concerned. His objective is firmly in his mind and concerns 
only one thing. He is there to sell his merchandise. If he doesn’t 
sell it he packs up his goods and goes away, and the other man 
has not even made an impression on his mind. 

Don’t you see that, if you keep your objective always in 
mind, your interview becomes a problem which you have set 
yourself to solve? Your problem is “How can I make this sale?”’ 
And so long as it remains a problem, it must remain impersonal, 
because a problem can’t insult you. A problem can’t hurt your 
feelings. A problem can’t even make you glad except at its 
solution. 

All the unsuccessful salesmen and saleswomen in the 
world are those whose spirits rise and fall with the ill will 
or the good will of the person they are trying to sell. 

Now, don’t you see that the ill will or the good will of the 
person you are trying to sell has nothing to do with the case, 
except that you set yourself the problem of how to handle the 
ill will in order to make your sale or how to take advantage of 
the good will to make your sale? 

Now for the next rule, and then we’ll see how they go together. 
First, remember you must never lose sight of your objective. 
Second, you must dominate the interview. 

When you go to your boss for a raise, if he started to do the 
talking you might just as well smile pleasantly and get out; 
you're through; you’re licked before you start. He is dominating 
the interview. You aren’t telling him,—he’s telling you.. If you 
start arguing, you’re also through. No argument on the question 
of money gets anywhere. It’s worse than arguing on politics 
or religion. If a salesman starts to sell something and the person 
who is buying starts to do the talking or starts an argument, 
the salesman is through. That salesman has to dominate the 
interview. 

Now, I am going to say something which may sound like a 
riddle, but I think it will come clear to you as I go on: You are 
saying to yourselves right now, “‘How can I be sure of dominat- 
ing an interview?” So please put this down in your minds, as 
the tying up of the two rules. 

The way to dominate an interview is never to lose sight of 
your objective. 

That sounds like going in circles, doesn’t it? But let’s see how 
it works out and how they tie up together. Occasionally you 
find a prospect who is so full of talk that you can’t do any 
talking. Now you must let him talk himself out before you can 
do any talking. You can’t put anything into a full bottle. If 
you outwait him, your time will come. If you still have your 
objective in mind, you will then take charge of the interview. 

If a woman starts to argue with you and you start to argue 
back, you’ve gone into a debate, and you didn’t come there to 


It Always Succeeds 50 








join a debating society. If you say to her quietly, ‘“Now, madam, 
what I have to say to you will cover all the objections you are 
making. Now let me say it first, and then if it doesn’t cover 
them, I’ll answer any that are left,’ you have taken quiet 
charge of the interview; you are in control of the situation. 

Don’t you see that, if you keep your objective absolutely in 
your mind, you automatically dominate that interview? You 
are asking your boss for a raise and he gets mad. You don’t 
get mad in turn—that isn’t your objective. And since it takes 
two people to make a quarrel and you don’t get mad, he stops 
being mad. And sooner or later he listens to what you have to 
say. He’s got to listen if that objective stays firmly in your 
mind. A salesman goes out to sell a bill of goods. Everything 
else in the world except the sale of that bill of goods is entirely 
out of his mind. It doesn’t make any difference what the other 
man says or does. And sooner or later, by the strangest bit of 
psychology in the world, the other man comes to realize that it 
doesn’t make any difference and he begins to listen. 

My friends, the most overpowering thing in the world is a 
steadfast objective. It automatically dominates any interview 
and will get you anything you go after, within the utmost range 
of possibilities. 


in W 


“TI always feel like taking my hat off to a 
man selling a good book, for he is doing 
more good than I can do with all my 
breaching."—Henry Ward Beecher. 


Ui 


PS 


X. Analysis of a Sale 


N the olden days before money was in general use, a sale 
consisted simply of a meeting between two people to ex- 
change goods. One man, let us say, had more bread than 

he needed, but lacked meat. So he hunted up another man 
who had a surplus of meat but lacked bread. The two ex- 
changed on some basis of common agreement—so much 
bread for so much meat. Some men, doubtless, were shrewder 
traders than others, but in the main the traders were onan 
equal basis. Each was a buyer and a seller at the same time. 
The problem before each was a simple one—a choice between 
bread and meat. 

But when money came into use, the character of the whole 
transaction changed. Money had universal and permanent 
value. If a man had money, his choice covered the whole 
range of worldly goods. Unlike the man who only had meat 
or bread, the man with money possessed something that 
everybody wanted all the time, something of which nobody 
ever had too much. In order to induce that man to part with 
his money he had to be persuaded that the article offered was 
more desirable than any other article or service he could buy 
for the same sum. It was no longer a choice between meat 
and bread. It was a choice between some particular piece of 
merchandise and everything else the same money might buy. 
The burden of proof was upon the man who owned the mer- 
chandise. He became a salesman, the man with money be- 
came a prospect. 


The Fundamental Problem 

We use this illustration to emphasize the fundamental 
problem which has to be solved in every sale. This is the 
problem of overcoming the natural reluctance of people to part 
with money. As long as they keep their money (useless as it is 
in itself), they can select from an endless variety of desirable 
things. The minute they make a decision in favor of any one 
of them, they cut themselves off automatically from all other 
possible purchases. 

Now it is natural for the majority of human beings to put 
off this decision as long as possible—to enjoy the sense of 
power and choice which unspent money bestows on its pos- 
sessor. It requires a positive force—the force of salesmanship 
—to bring about that decision. 


ol 


Ready-Made Sales 52 


You will remark, of course, that people are constantly 
spending money without any apparent mental struggle. 
They go into stores of their own free will and buy food and 
clothing; they pay rent, purchase tobacco or cosmetics, hire 
servants, ete.—all without any outward evidence of the pres- 
sure of salesmanship. But it is there just the same, operating 
through necessity, habit, or custom. The sale has been made 
once and for all, and the payments are, so to speak, merely 
repeating themselves. The people who accept those payments 
are not acting as salesmen at all—they are merely order 
takers. 

The true salesman is the person who induces another to 
depart from the groove of mere necessity, habit, or custom 
and make a special and unexpected purchase. 

If you go into a home and find a mother who has been 
eagerly waiting for a chance to get the Compton Service, it 1s 
because someone else has already done the biggest part of 
your job for you. If this happened very often, we would not 
need a force of real sales people. We could hire little boys to 
go around and collect the orders. In other words, there would 
be no problem requiring brains for its solution. 


Steps in Solving Problem 


The solution of any sales problem is divided into six parts: 
(1) Preparation, (2) Approach, (8) Gaining Attention, 
(4) Arousing Interest, (5) Creating Desire, (6) Impelling 
Action. 

We will explain these steps briefly in this chapter, showing 
how they fit together and how each is necessary. Then we 
will discuss each of them in a separate chapter, with detailed 
suggestions for carrying them out properly in your practical 
field work. 

1. Preparation—This consists in studying your sales 
problem and the ways to solve it. It includes learning your 
sales talk and how to use your sales material; finding out all 
you possibly can about the Compton Service; studying your 
territory; working up influence; getting advance information 
about your prospects; planning your interviews; and all the 
other activities which may precede the actual calls on parents. 
The importance of this preliminary work is obvious. 

2. Approach—This very important step includes every- 
thing related to your first meeting with the prospect—your 
mental attitude, your physical bearing, your behavior at the 
door, your opening remarks, your entrance into the house, 
sizing up the prospect from her manner and from the appear- 
ance of her home, and any other details before the actual sales 


a5 


Based on Human Nature 53 








talk begins. Fully half of the fate of an interview depends 
upon the first impression you create on the prospect’s mind 
during the brief moments we call the “approach.” 

3. Gaining Attention—During the approach the pros- 
pect’s mind has been focused upon you and the general pur- 
pose of your visit. Your next step is to shift that focus over 
to the Compton Service in such a way as to gain her undivided 
attention. Obviously the best sales talk in the world will fall 
flat if the prospect is only half listening. This step includes 
everything you say and do after you are seated and before the 
actual demonstration begins. 

4. Arousing Interest—While you may gain attention 
through your introductory remarks, you cannot hold it unless 
you arouse the interest of the prospect in the Compton 
Service. To do this is the purpose of your demonstration 
with the pages of the prospectus. This step in the saleis 
intended to fill the prospect’s mind with thoughts of the 
Compton Service, the character of its articles, the beauty of 
the pictures, its arrangement, and all the other physical de- 
tails of the books and newspaper. 

5. Creating Desire—While this step must in practice be 
taken at the same time that interest is aroused, it is quite 
distinct from the latter. As one writer has put it, you can 
be interested in an elephant without desiring to own one. In 
the same way, an interest on the part of the prospect in the 
pages of the prospectus does not necessarily mean a desire 
to own the Compton Service. This desire must be created by 
appeals to the emotions, mixed thoroughly through your 
entire demonstration. 

6. Impelling Action—All the other steps of the sale merely 
lead up to the point where the prospect can be persuaded to 
action—that is, to sign the order blank. You can arouse 
interest and create desire in plenty, yet the natural inertia 
and reluctance to make a definite decision will hold the pros- 
pect in check unless pressure is applied. The application of 
this pressure to complete the sale is known as the Close. As 
we shall see later, this does not imply that the prospect is 
urged or compelled to do something against her better judg- 
ment. On the contrary, the Close is used by the good sales- 
man to induce the prospect to act at once in accordance with 


her better judgment. 
ne 


These six steps in the making of a sale are founded upon 
common sense and human nature. All good sales people use 
them naturally, whether they know them by name or not. 


Checking Your Own Work 54 





Experience and instinct teach them to do that, for at 1s impos- 
sible to make a sale without taking those steps. 

However, every sales person who is ambitious for contin- 
ually greater success must have a conscious and intelligent 
understanding of these natural divisions. With their aid, you 
will be able to analyze your own work, pick out your weak- 
nesses, and overcome them. Perhaps you lack sufficient prep- 
aration for your sales; maybe your approach is faulty; or 
your close may need strengthening. By going over your 
interviews afterward, you will be able to put your finger right 
on the trouble and remedy it. 


Ue 


pT @ UL LLL SS De se 


so 


O LONGER do we believe to- 

day that struggle and diffi- 
culty and grief add anything to the 
value of a child’s training and edu- 
cation. Interest and delight pave 
the natural way to knowledge. Those 
children that have to fight so hard 
for what they get use up their energy 
in the getting. Make the getting 
easier and there will be energy and 

enthusiasm left for the using. 


F ¢ SMM MM SU se ee ee 
b ¢ Se Ms TS = = 2 I Le 


Te TOIL STULL SS LL LLU LLL LSS 


UE 


TPIS 


XI. Preparation 


“Tf statistical organizations would analyze the reasons for failures 
among salesmen, in order to show the percentages due to specific 
causes, failures due to lack of preparation, most salesmen agree, 
would far outnumber those due to any other single cause.’’—From 
“Constructive Salesmanship” by John Alford Stevenson. 


| | NDER the head of Preparation is included everything 
you learn and everything you do on the outside that 
may help you to make sales. The quotation above 
from Mr. Stevenson’s noted book suggests the importance of 
this phase of sales work. Obviously preparation is not some- 
thing which you can dispose of once and for all in your first 
few weeks as a beginner, any more than a doctor, who hopes 
to rise in his profession, can stop studying and training and 
preparing for his duties the minute he leaves medical school. 
Your preparation must go on all the time, or you fall behind. 
We will discuss the preparation to sell the Compton Service 
under three heads: (1) General Preparation, which includes 
all the studying you do and the training you give yourself 
to increase your personal efficiency, (2) Field Strategy, which 
covers the plans you make for carrying out your work effec- 
tively and the steps you take to pave your way in the territory 
you occupy, and (3) Special Tactics, which includes getting 
advance information about individual prospects that may 
help you in your interviews. 


GENERAL PREPARATION 


Knowing What You Are Selling: You can never know 
too much about the Compton Service in all its details. The 
information contained in the Sales Talk and other sales ma- 
terial is the minimum without which you cannot start to work. 
You must grasp every opportunity to extend your knowledge 
of C. P. E. and C. P. N. beyond that minimum. The informa- 
tion given in the first part of this book about the history and 
purpose of the books, how they were made, and the detailed 
reasons for their success is absolutely essential to real effi- 
ciency. This background of knowledge will not only be useful 
in amplifying the material in the Sales Talk, but will create 
in yourself a feeling of reserve power and confident enthu- 
siasm. 

Become familiar with the books themselves, with their 
general arrangement and the wealth of features which could 


55 


Learning the Sales Talk 56 


ee 
not be represented in the prospectus. Examine the Outlines 
and learn how to use the Fact-Index skillfully, so that you can 
find anything you want at a moment’s notice. See for your- 
self how C. P. E. answers questions. Read new articles as 
often as possible, so as to get a constantly renewed taste of 
the interest in those pages. If any question about the books 
comes into your mind which you cannot answer, write to the 
company about it. Don’t remain in doubt. 

Keep up with C. P. N. and learn its policy and editorial 
methods. Read each issue carefully and note in your mind 
the articles that appeal to you the most. These are the ones 
that you will be able to show to prospects with the most 
enthusiasm. 

In general you should have a hundred times more informa- 
tion about the Compton Service than you are ever called upon 
to give to any one prospect. Then you will be prepared for 
any emergency. By being able to answer the unusual ques- 
tions, by being able to meet the tastes of the unusual pros- 
pects, you will get those extra orders which make the differ- 
ence from week to week between the stars and the plodders, 


The Sales Talk: Learn your Sales Talk until you can 
say it backwards or forwards. Master the Reserves and the 
Answers to Objections word for word. Don’t let anybody 
persuade you to neglect in the slightest degree this part of 
your preparation. Sometimes workers of long experience will 
tell you that learning a set sales talk by heart is unnecessary. 
Yet you will find that every single one of them has done that 
very thing. Remember what the preface to Section 1 of the 
Compton Service Sales Talk says: 

“Sooner or later every person who makes a success of sales- 
manship has to have a standard sales talk. It may be produced 
by long months of painful experience during which success is 
delayed. But the better way is to build it upon the experience of 
all those who have already done the hard pioneer work.” 

You are going to standardize some kind of a sales talk for 
yourself sooner or later. Do you want to standardize a talk 
that is made up of odds and ends that happen to come to 
your mind during the stress of work and which become fixed 
more through force of habit than because of careful choice? 
Or do you want to build upon the solid foundation of a talk 
which you know contains all the essentials of your sales 
message presented clearly and concisely? 

You may wonder why we find it necessary to urge you to 
master the Standard Sales Talk, when every beginner is 
supposed to learn that talk by heart before beginning work in 
the field. It is because the quick memorizing of that talk in 





Adapting It To Your Needs 57 

KL —— 
the first few days of training is not enough by itself to fix it 
permanently in your mind. Time, continued study, and 
actual practice with it in the field are required to really master 
it as it should be mastered. 

Again, we repeat, do not let anybody or anything turn you 
aside from this purpose. No single thing that you can do 
could have a greater effect upon your sales efficiericy. Quicker 
than anything else, it will bring your natural ability into play. 
It will give you absolute confidence in yourself. You will 
never be at a loss during an interview. It is a sure protection 
against falling into bad habits in your selling talk—crudeness 
of expression, vagueness, exaggerations, negative suggestions, 
statements which invite argument, and all the other little 
weaknesses which are likely to creep in unless you are on 
guard against them. 

Does this mean that you are expected to recite that sales 
talk to prospects just as it is written? Certainly not! If you 
did that, we might as well send out phonograph records from 
the Chicago office for the prospects to play. That sales talk 
is like the multiplication table. You learn the multiplication 
table by heart. But when you want to find out how much 
6 times 9 makes, you do not recite the whole table. The 
answer comes instinctively to the tip of your tongue. You 
have to learn it all so as to be ready for any problem, but you 
use only the part each particular problem calls for. 

In the same way, when you know that sales talk by heart, 
the answer to any ordinary sales problem will come instinc- 
tively to the tip of your tongue. You won’t have to stumble 
around or guess at the solution. But you will use only the 
part you need. 

Once you have mastered it as it is written, you can change 
it and adapt it to your own personality without the danger of 
overlooking some essential. You can cut down on some por- 
tions that do not appeal to you so strongly and you can expand 
other parts to get in additional points. But master it first, as 
it is. Remember, a scientist does not undertake original 
research work until he has first mastered what is already 
known of his science. If he did, it is likely that he would 
succeed only in “discovering” by painstaking experiment 
things which were already well known and which might have 
been his in the first place for the asking. 

Sales Material: Under this head is included all the equip- 
ment you carry with you when you call on a prospect and 
use in the course of your interview. The principal pieces of 
sales material are the Prospectus, the Letters of Commenda- 
tion, the Stretcher, and the Order Book. 


Knowing the Prospectus 7 58 


a——ee——E—E—E———————————SESESESESESESESoESESSSSS________ 

The Prospectus: The most important item in your sales 
material is the prospectus. It is at once a sample book and 
a bible from which you choose the texts of your sales sermons. 
If you use it only as a sample book (which is the tendency of 
all beginners) you are losing more than half its value. Of 
course the average prospect will be interested in looking at 
those brilliant and fascinating pages and in hearing selections 
from the articles. But that is not enough. You must make 
those pages talk the language of salesmanship, give them 
dramatic value. Then only will they carry over their message 
of service. 

Remember what it says in the Sales Talk (section 1, para- | 
graph 30) about the value of the text under the C. P. E. 
pictures, how it brings out their meaning. You must be able 
to do the same thing for the pages of the pros. 

You must know each of those pages, how to find it quickly 
when you want it, and what its sales points are. Bear in mind 
that every one of them was selected for some special purpose— 
to illustrate some desirable feature of the Compton Service. 
We haven’t the space to indicate here what purpose each page 
is intended to serve; but a study of them will make that suff- 
ciently obvious, and will have besides the added merit of 
allowing you to uncover for yourself additional features, over 
and above the ones for which the pages were chosen. 

In practiced hands the pros becomes like an artist’s box 
of paints, from which you can select the tones and colors to 
paint in the prospect’s mind a fascinating picture of the 
Compton Service in actual use in her home. Learn to know 
your colors. We shall have more to say about how to use 
them in the chapters on Interest and Desire. 


Letters of Commendation: A letter of commendation prop- 
erly used is one of the most persuasive instruments a sales- 
man can employ. It must, however, be selected to suit the 
need of the moment. If you want your collection of letters 
to be a real aid to you in getting more business, you must be 
thoroughly familiar with it, so you can select at will the kind 
of letter you want. One of the most successful salesmen ever 
associated with the House of Compton found it very profit- 
able to memorize a dozen of the letters he liked best. And 
he was in the School Service Department where it is generally 
supposed that commendation letters are not so effective as 
they are in homes. 

You will remember that the General Reserve for All Objec- 
tions given in the Sales Talk (section 3, paragraph 27) calls 
for the use of suitable letters from subscribers to lead up to the 
close. This is one of the strongest and most useful parts of 


Studying This Sales Manual 59 








the whole Sales Talk, but its effectiveness depends, of course, 
upon your ability to produce the right letter at the right time. 
Read over your letters frequently, classify them in your mind 
according to the sales appeals they contain or the objections 
they answer, and you will always have a ready weapon for 
any emergency. 

As in the case of the pros, the way to use letters to the best 
advantage will be discussed in succeeding chapters. 


The Stretcher: Preparation to use the stretcher effectively 
requires only that you know how to describe the bindings and 
answer any questions about them that may arise. 


The Order Book: You must know the text of the order 
blanks verbatim. This is a small thing to accomplish, but 
failure to do so may have unfortunate results. If you stumble 
over the wording when you read the terms of the order to the 
prospect, you create an unfavorable impression at a critical 
time; if you read them incorrectly you lay yourself open to 
suspicion. 

*k * * 

Everything we have said about the prospectus, the letters, 
etc., applies equally to any other sales material you may 
carry. You don’t want to freight around a lot of dead weight; 
you want to get one hundred per cent efficiency out of your 
equipment; and the way to do that is to understand thoroughly 
the purpose of each bit of material and how to get it into 
action smoothly and rapidly. | 

“The Business Builder”: There is little to add to what 
is contained in the introduction to this sales manual on the 
subject of using the manual profitably. We can only empha- 
size once more the importance of referring to it as often as 
possible. The first reading will yield you only a small part of 
its true value. This is not because the discussions and sug- 
gestions are deep and complicated, but because your own 
practical experiences in the field will constantly shed new 
light on the principles contained in these pages. Ideas that 
may have seemed a little dry and abstract on first reading 
will be enriched and enlivened. The first reading will probably 
leave you with little more than the big general landmarks 
along the road of salesmanship. Around these your subse- 
quent sales experiences will cluster, still in more or less 
chaotic form. The next reading will clear them up a little 
more, and so on indefinitely. The wider your experience, the 
more the manual will help you—if you give it a chance. 


“Better Business”: This weekly house organ is published 
solely for the benefit of the field force. It is intended to give 


Reading ‘‘Better Business’’ 60 





you all the interesting news of the House of Compton that 
may aid you in your sales work. In its pages the field workers, 
scattered from coast to coast, find a common meeting ground. 
It reports the progress of contests, gives accounts of those 
who do exceptionally fine work from week to week, tells the 
methods of those who achieve unusual success, and prints 
articles containing new ideas, practical suggestions, and in- 
spiration for all concerned. 

Experience has shown that those who maintain the most 
consistent high averages are those who read and study “Better 
Business”’ faithfully. Founded in 1916, this little paper has 
had a long and varied experience in helping Compton field 
workers. You may count upon its advice as being sound and 
written with a sincere desire to help you make a success for 
yourself. This does not mean that ‘Better Business” holds 
itself above criticism. Indeed, it welcomes all forms of 
critical comment; its growth and success depend upon it. It 
belongs to you and you should do your part to make it what 
you want by sending any suggestions you may have to the 
editor. ; 


Competitors: Part of your general preparation for field 
work should consist of learning all you can about the publica- 
tions which compete or try to compete with the Compton 
Service in the field of home education. In our enthusiasm for 
C. P. E. and C. P. N. we may sometimes be inclined to scorn 
the suggestion of competition. But bear in mind that in sales 
competition you are not dealing with the facts of comparative 
merit alone, but with zdeas and impressions which may exist 
in people’s minds. If a prospect thinks of a set of books as 
competing with C. P. E., that is real competition regardless 
of the true merit of the books. 

While we shall deal more fully later with the methods of 
meeting competition, we want to emphasize here the impor- 
tance of knowing particularly all the good points of your com- 
petitor. Examine the books themselves whenever possible 
and find out their desirable qualities. Those are the qualities 
you will have to contend with, for, obviously, if the bad qual- 
ities of a work are uppermost in a prospect’s mind, then that 
work is not a competitor. 


FIELD STRATEGY 


Systematic Work: The first step toward effective field ,, 
work is to systematize your working methods. Adopt a regu- 
lar daily schedule and stick to it. There is a tendency among 
sales people to follow whims and “hunches” about their work. 
Many of them, particularly after they achieve considerable 


Planning Your Daily Work 61 








efficiency, begin to have “off days,”’ to work only when they 
“feel just right,”’ to fancy that certain times are favorable or 
unfavorable. When they get up in the morning they have to 
consult the temperamental barometer to find out whether 
they will work little or much that day. 

Don’t ever let yourself get into that frame of mind. It is 
the worst possible enemy of success. You may think you are 
going to make up for lost time, but you never will. You will 
keep on adding to your “losing account” instead of your 
savings account. One week you may manage to key yourself 
up to high pressure, putting in extra long hours, driving hard, 
and perhaps establishing a new sales record for yourself. But 
that effort will seem by contrast so enormous to you and the 
results so unusual, that you will feel entitled to a rest which 
will more than eat up the surplus you accumulated. 

There are two practical ways of systematizing your work. 
One is on the basis of earnings, the other on the basis of time. 


Time System: This is by far the better method. You adopt 
a’ rigid schedule of hours—so many hours work every day, 
regardless of results. As your efficiency grows, your earnings 
grow—and there is no chance to fall behind. The way to make 
sure of carrying out such a program is to have a definite time 
to start work every day and a definite time to quit. Here is 
a schedule which has proved ideal in practice as a minimum 
working schedule: 


7:00 a. m.—Rise. 
7:30 a. m.—Breakfast and reading morning paper.* 
8:30 a. m.— Make first morning call. 
11:30 a. m.—Make last morning call. 
12:00 noon —Lunch. 
1:30 p. m.— Make first afternoon call. 
4:30 p. m.—Make last afternoon call. 
5:30 p. m.—Go over day’s work and put notes in 
order, attend to correspondence, etc. 
6:30 p. m.—Dinner. 
11:00 p. m.—Sleep. 

(*Reading of morning paper ts advised because it tends to 
get your mind off yourself, broadens your point of view, keeps 
you in touch with events that may help you in your talks, and 
generally puts you in the proper spirit for work.) 

This schedule will insure you at least six hours of actual 
field work a day. If you finish one interview at 11:30 a. m. 
or a few minutes before, you will make one more morning 
call. And the same applies at 4:30 p.m. Those hours are not 
the hours to quit, but the hours for making your last call. 
Before going to bed, it is wise to lay out briefly your plans 
for the next day. 


Importance of Regularity 62 





Earning System: Set yourself a goal covering the minimum 
amount of money you intend to earn during the year. Divide 
that sum by 52 and you will know how much you must earn 
each week. Then find out from your own experience how 
many calls you have to make to get one order. This is your 
efficiency average. It will be easy then to figure out how many 
calls you have to make each week to run your commissions 
up to the earning quota you have set yourself. Then be sure 
to make that number every week. 

The trouble with basing your work on earnings is that on 
those occasions when you make your quota before the week 
is over, you will tend to stop work. Then you will have no 
surplus to make up for those weeks when you fall short, and 
so your average will suffer. 

* ik 2% 


Take this question of regularity very seriously. It is far 
better for your health and your profits to work six hours each 
day of the week than to work nine hours one day and three 
hours the next. It is far better to work 36 hours every week 
of the month than to work 45 one week and 25 the next. Once 
you have formed the habit of regular hours of work, you get 
rid of your mental and physical troubles. Instead of starting 
out in the morning wondering how long you would better 
work that day, you know exactly what you are going to do. 
The struggle vanishes, the uncertainty disappears, and all of 
your energy is reserved for your real work with prospects. 


Knowing Your Territory: Many kinds of valuable infor- 
mation can be obtained by studying the territory where you 
are working. The fundamental sales problems, arising as they 
do out of human nature, are very much the same everywhere; 
but the minor differences which set one locality apart from 
another can often be turned to your advantage if you become 
familiar with them. Among the things to know about your 
territory are these: 

What are the prevailing industries on which depends the 
prosperity of the majority of the people in that territory? 

Which are the chief nationalities represented in the popu- 
lation? 

What political party has a majority and are the people as 
a whole keenly interested in political questions or are they 
indifferent? 

Which are the dominating religious faiths? 

Is the school system modern and progressive? Are the 
majority of parents satisfied with it or do they criticize wt 
adversely? Which of the school authorities are popular and 
which are disliked? 


a4 


The Value of Influence 63 





Are the Parent-Teacher Associations strong and active? 

What other organizations exist which take an active interest 
' in educational matters? 

What famous men and women, if any, were born or live in 
that territory? 

What noted historical events took place there? 

What subscription books have been widely sold in that 
region? 

Many other similar questions will occur to you. It is hardly 
necessary to explain the use that can be made of these various 
items of information. Your common sense will tell you that, 
and besides some of the more important points involved are 
brought out in later chapters. It is enough here to say that 
you can never know too much about the people in your dis- 
trict—their occupations, their tastes, their customs, and their 
beliefs. 9 


Influence: Influence in salesmanship consists of the favor- 
able opinion of others which has the power to move prospects 
to give their orders. In the general sense all letters of recom- 
mendation are influence, but what we are concerned with 
here is the kind of influence which applies particularly to the 
territory in which you are working—local influence, in other 
words. 

The first rule of influence is this: The closer the source of 
influence is to the prospect, the more powerfully it works. The 
name of the neighborhood banker has more weight than the 
name of a downtown banker; the name of the local school 
principal (provided he is well liked) has more weight than 
the name of the state superintendent of schools; the name of 
a wealthy woman who lives in the next block is worth more 
than the name of a far wealthier woman who lives at the 
other end of town. 

The reasons for this are obvious. Opinions quoted from 
close at hand create a sense of intimate reality. The prospect 
feels that they apply to her case more exactly than opinions 
from a distance. They produce also immediate confidence in 
their genuineness, for the prospect knows that she could 
easily verify them in person if she desired. 

Curiously enough, the rule applies right up to the point 
where you reach the circle of the prospect’s immediate rela- 
tives, friends, or neighbors—people with whom she fre- 
quently comes in personal contact. Then you have to be on 
your guard, for “familiarity often breeds contempt.’’ Some- 
times a close friend is the best possible influence; but some- 
times the very opposite is the case. We all know people 
whom we like very much, but for whose opinions on serious 


Various Kinds of Influence 64 





matters we have no great respect. Between relatives there is 
occasionally a secret feeling of hostility. Neighbors can be 
enemies as well as friends. So before using influence of this 
kind, be sure of your ground. 

In general, there is no doubt that the best influence of all 
is a goodly list of names of parent-subscribers in the neighbor- 
hood. Many of the Compton field workers carry such an 
“fnfluence list” as part of their regular sales equipment. 

Ready-Made Influence: You can always obtain through 
your manager or directly from the company a list of the names 
and addresses of the people in your territory who already own 
the Compton Service. You will receive also copies of any 
specially valuable letters that may have been written by such 
subscribers—whether school authorities or parents. 

This influence material must, of course, be read over care- 
fully, sorted according to districts, and (when it |takes the 
form of letters), mentally labelled according to the character 
of its appeal. 

It will be a source of great help and inspiration to you 
when you enter a new territory to call upon some of the old 
Compton subscribers and learn directly from them their 
opinions of the Service and the many practical uses they have 
made of-it. Sometimes you can obtain from such subscribers 
the names of promising prospects. 

Self-Made Influence: The influence you build yourself is, of 
course, far better for your purposes than any you receive 
second-hand. You can speak with greater confidence and 
carry greater conviction when you are referring to people 
whose orders you have taken in person. 

Let this building of influence be a part of every sale you 
make. As soon as the new subscriber has signed the order, 
consider her from this point of view. If you have not already 
obtained the information, find out to what church she be- 
longs, to what clubs, etc. Enter in your note book anything 
she may have said that might help you in future interviews. 
Get the names of other people she is willing to recommend 
as good prospects. Size up, in general, the probable value of 
her name as an influence on others in the neighborhood. 

Never use as influence the name of a parent who has not 
already subscribed to the Compton Service, no matter how 
prominent she may be or how sincere her promises for the 
future. To use such a name is to set an example of hesitation 
and delay, which many prospects will be quick to imitate. 

As a general warning on the subject of influence, do not 
fall into the habit of relying on it too much. Never let it be 
an essential part of your selling methods, so that you would 


rd 
* 


Information About Prospects 65 


feel lost without it. Properly used it can be one of the most 
powerful reserves, but think of it always as a reserve not as a 
main selling point. Be careful that you do not lose too much 
time hunting or building up influence. We have known sales 
people to mark time for days waiting for some special bit of 
influence to develop in their territory. This is sacrificing 
dollars for the sake of pennies. By far the most profitable 
way to invest your time is in actual interviews with pros- 
pects. If you will plan your work carefully, you will obtain 
all the influence you can possibly use incidentally and be- 
tween calls. 
SPECIAL TACTICS 

Information About Prospects: If general information 
about your territory is valuable, how much more valuable is 
specific information about individual prospects. The more 
you know in advance about a person, the easier it will be for 
you to find a direct method of persuasion. On page 5 of the 
opening chapter of this manual under the heading ‘‘Methods 
of Persuasion,” is pointed out the importance of building 
upon “what is already in the prospect’s heart and mind.” 
On this principle, the more you know about a prospect the 
more foundation you have to build upon. Of course, the big 
important qualities of human nature which are shared more 
or less alike by all people give you the outline of your foun- 
dation, but the smaller details which distinguish one prospect 
from another will help you materially in shaping your course. 

All information is worth while, but we will list examples of 
the types that are most valuable and which can be obtained 
in the ordinary course of your work: 


Correct name of prospect. 

Number of children, with names, ages, and school grades. 

What school do they attend? 

Are children bright or backward? 

Religion of prospect; social or club activities. 

Does the family own an automobile? Is there a radio in the 
house? . 

Have they a good library? 

Husband s occupation, including estimate of income. 

Is the family extravagant or economical? 

Are they friendly with their neighbors or do they keep to 
themselves? 

Is there now or has there been recently serious tllness in 
the family? 

Are the parents very strict with their children or otherwise? 

Any special interests or hobbies? 

General estimate of the prospect’s character and disposition. 


How to Get Information 66 








Many other items of worth-while information will occur to 
you. It is not necessary to point out here the evident appli- 
cation to your sales work of this kind of advance knowledge. 
Some of it will guide you in meeting objections (a knowledge 
of the prospect’s financial standing, for instance, will tell you 
how much weight to give to the “I-can’t-afford-it’’ objection) ; 
some of it, casually referred to during your interview, will 
make the prospect feel that you have taken a special interest 
in her needs and problems; some of it will help you to select 
the material from the pros most likely to appeal, and so on. 


Sources of Information: Beginners are usually very much 
puzzled about how to get the information they want. Yet 
nothing could be simpler. The love of gossip is almost uni- 
versal. People not only like to talk about themselves, but 
they like to talk about their neighbors. If you are a little 
tactful and seem not too eager nor make too much of a 
formality of it, people will tell you almost anything you want 
to know about other people of the neighborhood. 

When you first go into a new district, you can find out from 
the neighborhood druggist the names of some of the oldest 
residents nearby. Tell him frankly that you want to find 
someone who has lived there long enough to be able to tell 
you the families that have children of school age. Choose 
preferably as a first source of information a home where there 
are no children. Go there, ask if there are children in the 
house, and, upon being told there are not, say that you are 
calling on the mothers of children and suggest that there are 
possibly some next door. In most cases this will start the ball 
rolling. The person you are talking to will volunteer the infor- 
mation you need. If not, you can get at it by indirect ques- 
tions, as indicated by the following dialogue: 


Question: ‘“That’s Mrs. Carter’s home, isn’t it?”’ 

Answer: “‘No, there’s a Mrs. Carter lives in the next 
block. That’s Mrs. Simpson’s house.’’ 

Question: ‘Well, is it Mr. Simpson who is in the coal 
business?” 

Answer: “No, he’s manager of the Smith shoe factory. 
Mr. Rollins, who lives in that house over there, is in the 
coal business.” 

Question: ‘‘Well, I seem to be on the wrong side of the 
street. Let me see if I can get this right. Who lives there?”’ 
(pointing across the street and consulting note book, 
writing down information as it is given.) 

Answer: ‘“That’s Mrs. Green’s house . . .” etc. 


Once you get this kind of dialogue well under way, you can 
ask any direct question you choose without creating surprise. 


Planning the Interview 67 


Once you have picked out in this way two or three good 
prospects to call on, your troubles are at an end, for they will 
give you all the additional information you need. People who 
have given you an order naturally feel friendly and will be 
glad to help you in this way to spread the good work. People 
who have refused you an order will usually be eager to make 
up for their refusal by cheerful answers to your questions. 
In this way you can always keep your information a few steps 
ahead of your calls. 

We print on page 68 a sample from a note book, showing 
how you can jot down rapidly and in a small space a great 
amount of information. 

The final step in preparation is to plan the manner in which 
you will use the information you have obtained in your inter- 
view. This should be done as far as possible before you call 
on each prospect. Just as the matter of getting information 
will become easier and easier with practice,so the planning of 
interviews based on that information will come to be a matter 
of habit, after you have done it for a little while. To be sure, 
you will be tempted to leave such things to chance and the 
inspiration of the moment. But resist this temptation with 
all the power at your command. The luckiest people are 
always those who trust as little to luck as possible. 

The succeeding chapters dealing with the actual work of 
the interview will show how information is used in making 
sales, and these will be a guide to you in laying your plans. 


A salesman Led 
without a plan 
is like a ship 


By without a rudder 


A GOOD WAY TO TAKE FIELD NOTES 





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HIS is a sample page from a field notebook, showing one of the 

most convenient ways of jotting down advance information 
about prospects. Drawing a diagram of the streets and houses is 
far better than listing the names by street numbers. Numbers on 
houses are often hard to find. Neighbors can point out houses and 
tell you who lives in them, but rarely can they give you the exact’ 
street number. With the diagram you do not need the numbers, 
you have the relative position of the houses as an unfailing guide. 
On the next page the method of notation used here is explained. 


68 


THE VALUE OF A NOTEBOOK 


(NSO NOTEBOOK is a part of the essential equipment of 
every enterprising salesman. Do not let it be too small—-not 
less than three by five inches—otherwise your writing will tend to 
be cramped and hard to read. Neither should it be thick and cum- 
bersome. It is better to get thin, inexpensive books and replace 
them frequently than to try to carry around a bulky one that is 
hard to handle and gets ragged and torn through long use. 

Form the habit of putting everything down into your notebook 
that you want to remember—little sales stories, information about 
future prospects, your personal sales records, ete. If you have not 
already acquired this habit, you will find you can quickly work out 
for yourself a system of symbols and abbreviations that will enable 
you to set down very rapidly a tremendous amount of information 
in small space. 

The opposite page illustrates the kind of information you are 
likely to gather about future prospects and shows some of the simpler 
methods of abbreviation. In practice, of course, you can abbreviate 
much more than is done there. Here’s how those notes read, starting 
in the upper left hand corner and going down one side and then 





down the other. 


No children; apartment house. 


Mrs. A.G.Smith; member of Parent- 
Teacher Association; has three chil- 
dren—John, 11 years old, 6th grade; 
Elizabeth, 9, 3rd grade; girl baby, 2 
years old; husband is a bank cashier; 
family belongs to the Methodist 
church; owns Cadillac automobile. 


Mrs. 
children. 


Mrs. John Stillman; 2 children— 
Robert, 8, 3rd grade; Mary, 13, 8th 
grade; husband is manager of a coal 
company; she’s interested in books 
and has a good library. 


Mrs. William B. Campbell is a 
former teacher, married two years ago 
to an electrical engineer, has one small 
child, and is a Presbyterian. 


Green, a widow with no 


E. M. Hooper is a widower; a house- 
keeper looks after his only child, Billy, 
who is 9 but only in the 3rd grade—a 
wild youngster; the father is eager to 
do all he can to help Billy overcome 
the disadvantage of not having a 
mother to look after him; can see him 
only in the evenings. 


Miss Richards, a spinster, living on 
the first floor of the two-flat building, 
is a good source of information about 
the neighbors. 


Dr. F. B. Steele lives on the corner 
next the vacant house; Gertrude, 14, 
is in first year high school, Frank is a 
very bright boy, 11 years old but 
already in the 7th grade; Mrs. Steele 


is a clubwoman, interested in charities 
keeps a servant. 


P. T. Smith lives diagonally across 
from his brother, A. G. Smith; has 
four children; get more information 
before calling. 


Two families with children live in 
the apartment building across from 
Smith’s. Mrs. M. E. Nolan is in the 
third floor apartment of the north 
end; a Catholic, with one boy; hus- 
band an accountant who is active in 
politics. Mrs. J. B. Santley, second 
floor, south end, has one boy; husband 
a bond salesman. 


The people next door have just 
moved in, no information available 
except they have three children. 


Mrs. H. O. Schmidt is a good pros- 
pect, for her husband is a thrifty Ger- 
man restaurant keeper who realizes 
the value of education; but there has 
been recent illness in the family and 
they are close in money matters; care- 
ful salesmanship will bring an order. 


Two vacant lots next to Schmidt’s. 


Mrs. Pettengill has social aspira- 
tions; her husband is a prosperous fur- 
niture man and a deacon in the Bap- 
tist church. 


Judge Garvey, across the street, is 
bringing up an orphaned grandchild; 
he is well-known and highly respected; 
if he becomes a subscriber, it will help 
to get other orders in the neighbor- 


hood. 
69 


XII. Approach 


Whe will read in the textbooks on salesmanship that 





most sales are won or lost in the first five minutes of 

the interview. As far as our work is concerned, this 
statement is an exaggeration. It applies chiefly to the problem 
of selling to business men, who are so often approached by 
salesmen that, when a newcomer appears, they instinctively 
decide in the first few minutes whether it is worth while to 
listen to him or whether to devise some quick way of excusing 
themselves. In such cases, of course, the method of approach 
is all-important. In calling upon people in their homes this 
initial part of the interview is not critical to the same degree. 

Nevertheless, it is of tremendous importance. If the first 
impressions the prospect receives are favorable, the chances 
of being able to guide the interview to a successful close are 
enormously increased. It is gratifying to know, therefore, 
that there is no part of the entire sale where experience, 
coupled with a little thought, can bring such rapid improve- 
ment as in this matter of the approach. 

Beginners in salesmanship are always inclined to feel some- 
what timid and uncertain about this first meeting with a 
prospect. They fancy the situation is unlike anything they 
have encountered before. They grope around in their own 
minds or consult others hoping to find some special “‘method”’ 
of bridging the gap they imagine exists between the moment 
when the prospect first appears and the time when they are 
comfortably seated and beginning their sales talk. 

In other words, they start out with a wrong idea of this 
part of the sales problem, they magnify its difficulties, and 
hope to find some trick to solve them. In reality the whole 
thing is exceedingly simple and commonplace. It does not differ 
essentially from any other meeting between strangers. 

When you meet someone you have never seen before, what 
happens? Your mind is crowded with quick impressions. 
You instinctively size up the other person, seeking rapidly 
for a clue to some point of contact that will enable you to 
open the conversation in a suitable manner. All this is the 
work of an instant. If you know that the other person has 
sought you out for some special purpose (as is the case when 
a Caller comes to your door) your attitude is one of curiosity. 
You wait for the word or expression that will give you some 
indication of that purpose. You don’t expect a full and com- 

70 


ed 


Reception Depends on You 71 








plete explanation right off. All you seek is enough of a hint 
so you can guess whether the interview promises to be pleasant 
or unpleasant, whether to welcome the caller or be distant. 

And what is it that determines your attitude, nine times 
out of ten? The caller’s expression and manner and tone of 
voice more than any particular thing she may say. If she 
seems pleased and happy in expectation of the interview she 
has sought, you will be inclined to welcome her. Which is 
another way of saying that your attitude will instinctively be 
based on her attitude. 

The same thing reversed applies to the opening of your 
interview with a prospect. This thought is not new. It is 
as old as the ancient Greek philosophers. People will take 
you at your own valuation. Their first attitude toward you will 
be the direct product of your own attitude toward yourself. They 
will judge the importance of your message by the importance 
you place on vt yourself. That is all they have to go by. Until 
they learn more about your message from your own lips, they 
can’t possibly have any other basis of judgment than the one 
which is reflected by your manner. If you are enthusiastic, 
they will be interested. If you are sincere, they will have 
confidence. 

The first step of the approach then depends for its success 
not so much on what you say nor on the kind of prospect 
you have before you, as upon your own mental attitude. In 
this connection, it might be well to read again Chapter IX 
of this manual. 

Once you have the right attitude of mind toward your 
work, the approach problem is solved, provided you do not 
conceal that attitude behind a false personality. To indicate 
what this means, we cannot do better than reprint an article 
which appeared in ‘‘Better Business” on June 25, 1928. 


| Personality oe 


Br YOURSELF! 

The bugbear of “personality’”’ often stands in the road to suc- 
cessful salesmanship and holds up the traffic. People talk about 
it as if it were some mysterious quality sent down from heaven 
toa chosen few. You will find men and women of some experience 
who will tell you gravely that unless you can acquire the magic 
“nersonality”’ you are doomed to failure as a persuader of pros- 
pects. 

This is sheer nonsense, rubbish, and hocus-pocus. 

The “pep” literature of the day is filled with stories of the 
geniuses of salesmanship who go out and put the crusher of their 





Avoid Pose; Acquire Poise 72 








personality on the hardest filberts of finance and come away with 
million-dollar orders. 

Bunk, twaddle, and trash! 

Anyone who has reached the age of reason and who possesses 
courage and character enough to order a meal in a restaurant has 
personality to burn. Indeed, the danger lies in emphasizing 
personality too much, instead of subduing it. 

Many a salesman spoils a sale by letting his personality stand 
between his proposition and the prospect. The attention of the 
prospect is focused entirely on the manners and appearance of 
the salesman, and, even if those manners and that appearance 
are entirely pleasing, the result is bad from the point of view of 
getting action on the proposition. 


* * * 


Tue WHOLE ANSWER to the personality problem is this: 

Don’t be self-conscious and don’t try to play a part which 
does not come naturally to you. 

Be yourself! And then forget yourself! 

Be yourself! That means to do the things that come naturally 
to you. If you are not the type that smiles quickly and easily, 
you will only create a false and hollow impression when you 
spread a Cheshire cat grin on your countenance. Of course, it is 
always an advantage to look pleasant, but the only convincing 
way of looking pleasant is first to feel pleasant. 

If your natural manner is reserved, then reserve is your 
strongest asset. If your natural manner is cordial and friendly, 
then cordiality and friendliness are your greatest assets. 

That doesn’t mean that we should all start to psycho-analyze 
ourselves, or have the bumps on our heads measured, or lie 
awake nights worrying what really is our true nature. On the 
contrary, the best way to be ourselves is to leave ourselves alone. 

Forget yourself! Self-consciousness comes from wondering 
what the prospect is thinking about you. Don’t do it! Turn your 
mind’s eye outward, not inward. Focus your attention upon the 
prospect, not upon yourself. In that way you avoid pose and 
acquire poise. 

* * * 


A NEWSPAPER MAN once told us of a trick he had 
developed for overcoming the acute attacks of self-consciousness 
of which he was often the victim. His business frequently 
required him to conduct very painful and embarrassing inter- 
views, investigating scandals, crimes, and political secrets. He 
had to go into places where he was most unwelcome and question 
people whose attitude was hostile. And, although known as a 
skillful and enterprising reporter, he admitted to his close friends 
that he had always suffered keenly from self-conscious embarrass- 
ment until he hit upon the following plan: 

Before entering a house or an office where he was not expected, 
he would make up his mind to notice carefully and fix in his 


ed 


A Valuable Plan of Approach 73 





mind the characteristics of the place he was about to enter and 
of the people he was about to meet. He would, for instance, note 
whether there were rugs or carpets on the floors, what kind of 
pictures were on the walls, exactly what was lying on the tables. 
He would estimate the age of the first person that came to meet 
him, observe the color of eyes and hair, the kind of clothing and 
shoes worn, etc. 

He said that he first did this without any purpose whatever 
except to keep his consciousness off himself, and that it worked 
like magic. Soon, however, he found that this kind of close ob- 
servation became a matter of habit and that it often gave him 
valuable hints about the people he had to deal with. He believed 
also that it gave him a calmness and deliberation of manner 
which prevented him from dashing into his interview too hastily 
and which impressed people with the importance of his errand. 

There is no reason why the same thing would not banish self- 
consciousness from those of us who are inclined that way in our 
work. 


* * * 


Rememser, the average prospect is far more embarrassed 
than you are when she opens the door and sees a well-dressed 
and courteous stranger on the threshold. What you may think 
is coldness and unfriendliness in her manner is, nine times out 
of ten, nothing more than shyness and doubt as to how she should 
behave and what she should say. 

Bear that in mind, and bear in mind also that if you put her 
at her ease by your own easy and natural manner of approach, she 
will instinctively feel grateful toward you and will listen gladly 
to anything you have to say. 


The Standard Sales Talk gives the opening words of a 
standard approach, which will be serviceable in the great 
majority of cases. You will alter this, of course, to suit any 
circumstances that may arise. The newspaper man’s system 
mentioned above of observing closely from the moment the 
door opens is an absolute necessity for the highest degree of 
success. Often the appearance of the prospect will give you 
a clue for some of your opening remarks. You can usually tell 
if she has been lying down, or working about the house, or 
preparing to go out. If, after greeting her and telling your 
name, you can say to her, for instance, ‘I see you are ready 
to go out,”’ before she gives you that information herself, you 
not only break the force of her objection but also convince 
her you are considerate. She will be more willing then to 
give you an interview, feeling that you will probably make 
it as brief as possible. Friendly relations will likewise be 


Some Indirect Suggestions 74 








established by such remarks as “I hope I didn’t wake you 
from a nap,” or “I hope my ring didn’t interrupt you in the 
middle of your work.” 

She will usually protest with some such remark as “Oh, 
that’s all right’”’ or “I don’t mind a bit” and your way at 
once becomes smooth. Any remarks of this same type which 
tend to throw the prospect’s mind back upon herself and her 
affairs are valuable. Another type of remark that is very 
helpful in this connection is the type that suggests indirectly 
the idea of inviting you in at once. Unusually hot or cold 
weather, rain or snow provide such opportunities. For 
example: 

/ “This is a good day to be in a cool house; the heat is terrible.” 
/ “T’d better come in; you'll freeze if I keep you standing here.” 
/ “Isn’t this rain terrible; it’s nice to get away from it for a 
. moment.” 


One young saleswoman found that on damp or dusty days, 
the simple act of wiping her feet on the door mat or using the 
foot scraper worked as an almost unfailing suggestion. Any 
little gesture such as people naturally make when coming into 
a house from outdoors is effective—loosening a wrap for ex- 
ample, looking down as if you were about to step forward 
and were afraid of stumbling on the threshold, or simply 
looking beyond the prospect at the interior of the house. 
Good sales people learn to do such things instinctively at 
every call, so that they are perfectly natural about it. 


It is always best to make your entrance in this simple and - 


direct way rather than to offer explanations of your visit at 
the door. And if your manner indicates in a courteous way 
that you expect to enter before stating the purpose of your 
call, you will, in most cases, be admitted at once. But 
occasionally a prospect will hesitate or ask you outright the 
nature of your errand. Then you will tell her as indicated 
in the Sales Talk. 

If you have been sent to see her by someone else, it is 
always best not to mention that fact until you begin your 
actual sales talk. Do not use it to get the interview. It tends 
to set the prospect’s mind wondering about the other person. 
The force of that influence will be far greater if it comes after 
the prospect knows more definitely the purpose of your visit. 

The Standard Sales Talk describes the general course to 
follow after you have entered the house, the seating arrange- 
ment, etc. We need to add here only that this brief period of 
the approach should be used to get by observation all the 
additional information you can to help you in your interview. 


Sizing Up Your Prospects 75 





Pictures on the walls, books, magazines, toys that may be 
lying around on the floor—all such things can tell you a great 
‘deal that you may not know already about the tastes, culture, 
religion, family life, habits, or financial standing of the pros- 
pect. You may not realize to what an extent a little practice 
can develop your ‘‘detective”’ faculties along these lines. 

Observe also the manner of your prospect and determine to 
what type she belongs. This does not mean that you must 
study the so-called science of character analysis or try to 
classify people by the color of the hair or the shape of the 
head. All you need do is to apply the common-sense methods 
of judging people so as to adapt yourself to them. Here is 
an example of one method of classification with the policies 
recommended for each type. 


Cautious Type: Mind works slowly, is skeptical and sus- 
picious, wants to reason things out; speak slowly and calmly, 
pick out a few solid points and drive them home, emphasize 
by repetition, do not become too enthusiastic, avoid any statement 
that might sound lke exaggeration, concentrate on building 
confidence. 


Flighty Type: Agrees with you too easily, indifferent, 
can’t or won’t concentrate attention, poor reasoner; speak in 
a clean-cut, decided way, don’t devote much time to demon- 
stration, disregard objections entirely, make simple, emotional 
appeals, and close hard. 


Clever Dynamic Type: Mind works very rapidly, atten- 
tive, quick to grasp points made, impatient, reaches decisions 
suddenly; speak quickly and to the point, don’t repeat or elab- 
orate details, avoid any form of argument, meet objections 
squarely but briefly, close on basis of service. 


Self-Satisfied Type: Knows it all, wants to do most of 
the talking, no sense of humor, sensitive; cater to her whims, 
let her express herself, appeal to pride and vanity, don’t argue, 
avoid humorous appeals, be very agreeable, use suggestion, take 
order for granted in closing. 


Irritable Type: Seems abrupt and discourteous, contra- 
dicts flatly, looks for an argument, admires courage and 
determination; be calm and cool, don’t let her bluff you, meet 
arguments in a firm and decided way, use some indirect closing 
method such as the one in “‘General Reserve for All Objections” 
(paragraph 27, section 3, Standard Sales Talk). 

Many other types could be listed. These we select here are 
merely by way of suggestion. There is nothing hard and fast 
about the types or the manner of handling them. You will 
possibly use an entirely different method of classifying pros- 


Start on the Right Track 76 





pects, based on your own temperament and experience. That 
is perfectly right and proper. Human nature cannot be 
handled by rigid rules. The point we want to emphasize 
particularly here is the need for gauging your prospects as 
soon as possible in your interview so that you may start on 
the right track immediately. 


The rarest fruit hangs high; 
Its flavor is for those only 
Who have the courage to climb, 
The strength to hang on, 
The steadiness to keep their balance, 


When weaker heads grow dizzy. 








XIII. Gaining Attention 


HE purpose in the Approach, as we showed in the last 

chapter, is to obtain a favorable. audience from the 

prospect—to put the prospect at ease and prepare her 
to listen to your sales talk. You have not told her any details 
of your mission, but she is satisfied that you have something 
of importance to say to her. Her curiosity is more or less 
aroused and her mind is open and awaiting the first definite 
statement of your purpose. 

She may guess the general purpose of your visit; she may 
even know that you have come to talk about the Compton 
Service; and she may have reached a tentative decision not 
to allow you to get her order. But she will wait for some 
direct information from you before her attitude takes definite 
form. 

Suppose, for instance, that her first attitude is altogether 
unfavorable and that she is determined to refuse your pro- 
posal at the earliest opportunity. She must necessarily wait 
until you give her something on which to base her refusal. 
She cannot, with any force of conviction, refuse something 
which has not yet been offered. 


The Purpose of the Introduction 

The purpose, then, of the Introduction to your sales talk 
is (1) to present an idea to her mind which will override for 
the moment all other thoughts and which will focus her atten- 
tion exclusively on what you are going to say and do next, 
and (2) to present that idea in such a way that she is forced 
to agree with you. 

Winning agreement with your opening remarks is your 
first real sales step. All the rest is merely preliminary. But 
winning agreement is not enough in itself. The idea which 
you present and with which the prospect is forced to agree 
must be an idea important and attractive enough to hold 
her attention and it must have a vital connection with the 
Compton Service. 

The Standard Sales Talk gives you an Introduction which 
fulfills these conditions. The interest of a mother in her 
children is the key to that introduction. You suggest to her 
mind at once the idea that you can help her to give her 
children a better education than they are now getting. This 
is certainly important and interesting enough to hold her 


77 


Points of Speech and Manner 78 





attention. And you state the idea in such a way that she is 
forced to agree with you. No matter how strongly she may 
intend to refuse that help, she cannot in good faith deny 
anything you say or object to it. 

The prospect may hesitate to show by outward signs that 
she agrees. She may sit silently waiting for your next step. 
But you know, if you have given your Introduction properly, 
that you have caught her attention and that she will follow 
you through your next step. 

Avoiding a Common Mistake 

This may be the best place to warn you against one of the 
commonest mistakes made by sales people—the mistake of 
rushing over the introductory remarks as though they wanted 
to get them out of the way as soon as possible so they could 
settle down to the real business of the interview. 

Nothing is so annoying to prospects as to feel that a sales- 
man is reciting something to them that has already been 
recited in just that same way to hundreds of other people. 
If you let that habit take hold of you, you are simply building 
up at the outset of every interview an unnecessary obstacle 
that will take a lot of extra effort later on to overcome. Of 
course it becomes an old story to you, because the Introduc- 
tion rarely varies much from one call to the next. But it’s 
not an old story to the prospect. You are talking about her 
problems and her children. Let your manner, as well as your 
words, prove to her that you are interested and sincere. 

Speak calmly and clearly, and put meaning into the tone 
of your voice. Look at the prospect while you are talking. 
This last is particularly important, for if you let your eye 
wander at this stage of the proceedings, you will not only 
risk appearing insincere, but the prospect’s attention will 
tend to wander too. 


Suggestions That May Help 

Again and again we have emphasized in these pages the 
importance of being natural and avoiding any form of pose 
or assumed mannerism. We know the danger of suggesting 
definite details of behavior to be observed during interviews. 
But there are a few simple things which, we believe, will help 
anyone to produce a more effective impression. 

Sit squarely in your chair. Do not lean back as if tired, 
for this suggests weariness and weakness to the prospect. 
Nor should you sit forward on the edge of the chair, as if 
you were constantly on the point of rising, for this suggests 
to the prospect that you are only going to stay a minute and 
prevents her from settling down to listen to you. 


a5 


As You Do, So You Think 79 








Keep your hands still until you want to make some definite 
motion or gesture. Many people of nervous temperament 
toy with a purse or handkerchief, or pick at their glove fingers, 
or run the palms of their hands idly over the arms of chairs, 
or make some other distracting moves. This tends to suggest 
restlessness, lack of confidence, and unreliability. 

When you start your introduction, speak as slowly and 
coolly as it is natural for you to speak. This will command 
greater attention and respect, for it suggests poise, confidence, 
and mastery of the situation. Also it leaves you a chance to 
speed up and warm up later on as the sale progresses and 
closer contact is established with the prospect. An enthusiasm 
which is too exuberant at the start may strike a false note. 

What applies to your speech applies also to your actions. 
Without overdoing it, be as deliberate as you can in getting 
out your prospectus the first time and in turning to the page 
you want. Hurry and bustle make a bad impression and are 
likely to result in your own nervousness and confusion. If 
you speak calmly and act calmly, your mind will remain calm. 
The little boy who, every time he passed the graveyard at 
night, whistled to keep up his courage, made the great dis- 
covery that our outward actions have a tremendous influence 
on our minds. Every salesman should remember this. 


Get Into Action Quickly 

Do not prolong the Introduction to your sales talk an 
instant beyond the time when you see that you have won 
agreement to your opening idea. Sometimes sales people feel 
that they must at all costs pave the way fully before they 
produce the prospectus, and they continue to talk and 
explain until the prospect grows weary and impatient. 

It is possible, of course, to get out the prospectus too 
soon, before the prospect realizes what it is all about. But 
the mistake is usually made the other way. In general, get 
into action as soon as possible. 

If you are interrupted by the prospect during your Intro- 
duction, you will know that, nine times out of ten, it is 
because your introduction has been too vague. Remember 
she is eager to find out exactly why you called and what it is 
you have to tell her. Don’t keep her waiting. 

You can meet any interruption by saying: ‘Jt will save 
time, Mrs. Brown, if I show you the Compton Service, rather 
than try to tell you about it.”? As you say this, get out your 
pros. This, by itself, will be a sufficient break and diversion, 
so that you can go on and finish anything else you may want 
to say before you actually start your Demonstration. 


1” The Cruise of the Good Ship Sale 


IN THE great city of Need, capital 

of the Land of Indifference, there 
dwelt a worthy person by the name of 
Prospect. While walking in the street 
one day, he was accosted by a pleasant- 
faced man, evidently a stranger in the 
city, and although Prospect usually 
felt somewhat embarrassed and suspi- 
cious when strangers talked to him, 
this newcomer’s manner somehow in- 
spired confidence, so that he fell into 
easy conversation with him. 


Presently the stranger introduced 
himself as Captain Salesman, master 
of the Good Ship Sale, then lying at 
anchor at the Port of Introduction. 
After some slight hesitation, Prospect 
accepted the Captain’s invitation to 
come on board. No sooner had he put 
foot on deck, than the ship set sail. 


Prospect felt alarmed at first, but 
the Captain reassured him, telling 
him they were off on a wonderful 
cruise and that Prospect himself would 
decide the ship’s course. Soon they 
had cleared the Harbor of Doubt and, 
rounding Attention Point, were sailing 
straight across the beautiful waters of 
the Sea of Interest. 


Prospect, his fears completely for- 
gotten, was delighted with the voyage. 
He would have liked to sail back and 
forth in the Sea of Interest forever, but 
Captain Salesman held the wheel 
steadily ahead, telling of still more 
wonderful sights to be seen, until the 
ship hove in sight of the troubled 
waters which marked Objection 
Shoals. 


Here Prospect expressed a strong 
wish to take the starboard channel. 
But the Captain knew that this was 
the Channel of Argument, a blind 
passage, skirting the Barren Island of 
Refusal, and fringed with the Reefs of 
Prejudice and Dispute, where many a 
good ship had been wrecked. Yielding 
to Prospect’s wishes just sufficiently 
to avoid striking Contradiction Rock, 
he managed skillfully with the aid of 
Reserve Light to bring the ship 
around on the port tack and so into 
open water again. 


Once there, Prospect scanned the 
horizon for new signs of land, and 
finally having made out in the dis- 
tance the Islands of Competition, 
indicated a wish to explore them. 
But Captain Salesman deftly headed 
the ship into the Channel of Desire, 
where it was caught by a swift current 
and carried rapidly forward past the 


80 


shores of the Pleasant Island of Inde- 
cision. Prospect then found himself 
wavering between two impulses. The 
swift course of the ship exhilarated 
him and he wanted to continue on- 
ward; and yet he felt attracted by the 
beautiful island that was gliding by so 
quickly. 


As the ship came opposite the invit- 
ing entrance of the Harbor of Delay, 
Prospect was on the point of giving 
the order to sail in, when the Captain 
quickly called his attention to an even 
more beautiful shore rising in the dis- 
tance off the starboard bow. 


“That,’? said he, ‘‘is the Land of 
Content. Sail with me to that shore, 
and you will soon forget this island, 
which seems pretty from here, but is 
really a very disappointing place 
when you land.’’ 


Prospect consented to go forward. 
The ship now came in sight of a nar- 
row strait leading between Hesitation 
Point and Cape Weakness. The pas- 
sage seemed difficult, but with the aid 
of Reserve Light, Captain Salesman 
brought the vessel through safely, and 
Prospect heaved a sigh of satisfaction. 


“‘At last we have arrived,” he said. 
“Tet’s drop anchor here and enjoy 
the wonderful view.”’ 


“Not yet,’ replied the Captain. 
“This is only Inertia Bay, a false 
anchorage. You can see there is no 
place to land here.”’ 


Prospect was about to remark that 
he didn’t really care whether he 
landed or not, but the Captain would 
not be balked. Seizing the wheel, he 
forced the ship quickly across the 
white-foamed Bar of Decision which 
seemed to block the entrance to the 
inner bay. Prospect made a motion 
to interfere, but before he knew it the 
vessel was gliding smoothly into the 
most beautiful harbor he had ever 
seen—the Harbor of Order. 


In the distance Captain Salesman 
pointed out the shining spires and 
glittering domes of the Great City of 
Satisfaction, capital of the Land of 
Content. Soon the ship had docked, 
and Prospect, filled with a strange 
feeling of joy which seemed to radiate 
from the very atmosphere of the 
place, knew that he would never 
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XIV. Arousing Interest 





attention by telling her that you could help her with her 

children’s training and education. Her mental attitude 
is still one of curiosity, strongly tempered in most cases by 
doubt. Now you are going to show her the kind of help you 
have to offer and how it works. 

It is, of course, impossible to say that one part of the 
sale is more important than another, since the different 
parts form a continuous chain, every link of which is abso- 
lutely essential. But we can say this about the Demon- 
stration, that it offers you a greater opportunity than any 
other part of the sale for individual skill, for variety of 
appeal, and for the display of tact and judgment. 


‘Salesman and Farmer Compared.—Compare the entire 
sale to the work of a farmer. In the beginning he obtains 
farm tools and machinery and learns how to use them, he 
studies his soil and climate, he selects his crops, and plans 
his tasks season by season—that is the Preparation. Next 
he breaks his ground and gets it ready to receive the seed— 
that is the Approach and Introduction, culminating in 
Gaining Attention. Then he sows his seed and cultivates 
his fields—that is the Demonstration, during which the 
sun’s rays (Interest) and the rains (Desire) make the crop 
sprout and grow. Finally, comes harvest time—the Close, 
when the crop is gathered. 

Now, just as the farmer’s crop varies in abundance and 
quality depending upon the weather, so the salesman’s 
crop varies most in accordance with the Interest and Desire 
he has been able to evoke during the Demonstration. 

You can standardize your Approach and Introduction 
until it is almost perfect for the average prospect, just as 
the farmer can standardize his methods of plowing. You 
can, in a lesser degree, standardize your Close, just as the 
farmer can standardize his methods of harvesting. But 
you cannot successfully make your Demonstration a fixed 
and rigid thing, any more than the farmer can predict the 
weather in advance. However, you have this advantage 
over the farmer. He is helpless as far as sunshine and rain 
is concerned. Whereas you can control Interest and Desire, 
by adapting your Demonstration to the needs of the prospect. 

While we treat the two great sales forces—Interest and 
Desire—in separate chapters as separate mental processes, 


82 


| le your introduction you have caught the prospect’s 


Complete Description Impossible 83 





they must in successful practice be inseparably bound 
together. In other words, you do not first arouse in the 
prospect a certain amount of Interest and then proceed to 
create a certain amount of Desire. The two must go along 
side by side. Every bit of Interest is like a hook on which 
you hang a corresponding bit of Desire. 


Plan of Explanation.—To make the whole thing clear, 
we will first examine in this chapter the purpose of the 
Demonstration as a whole and the methods of arousing 
Interest. In the next chapter we will discuss the creation 
of Desire and the part it plays in the sale, concluding the 
chapter by showing how Interest and Desire are linked in 
practice. 

The beginning of the Demonstration finds the prospect 
attentive, but still doubtful. If she started out determined 
to refuse anything you might have to offer her, that determi- 
nation is just as strong as ever. But if your Introduction 
was skillful, she has not had a chance to refuse or disagree. 

Whatever the attitude of the prospect, you have reached 
the point where you are going to show her some “‘samples’”’ 
of your wares. To make this Demonstration intelligently, 
you must understand its exact purpose. 


PURPOSE OF THE DEMONSTRATION 


What is the Demonstration for? The beginner in sales- 
manship will answer at once that it is intended to give the 
prospect a clear idea of the character of C. P. E. and of 
C. P. N., so she can judge for herself whether she wants 
them or not. The prospect, if you asked her that question 
after the sale was over, would make the same answer. She 
would tell you that she had decided to give you her order 
because the examination of the sample pages in your pros- 
pectus had convinced her of the value of the books. If she 
was explaining the reasons for her purchase to a friend, 
she would probably add that she was not moved in the least 
by what you said, but that she saw with her own eyes the 
merit of the work and decided to get it. 

Wrong View of Demonstration.—Both the beginner and 
the prospect are wrong, as we shall see. In the first place, 
even if it were desirable to give the prospect a complete and 
accurate description of the Compton Service, it would be 
impossible to do it in the course of a brief interview. It 
couldn’t be done if the interview lasted four hours. It 
couldn’t be done if, instead of a prospectus of 200 pages, 
you had with you all the ten volumes of C. P. E. 

The Compton Service is too varied in its details, it is 


Learn this Principle! 84 





made up of too many different features—all blending together 
with a spirit unlike anything the prospect has ever encount- 
ered before—to be described or demonstrated with accuracy 
and completeness. Only in actual use over a long period 
can its qualities be definitely understood and appreciated. 
The best we can do in a sales interview is to suggest a few 
of the simpler and more obvious characteristics. 

There is, however, a far more important reason why we 
say above that the beginner and the prospect are both 
wrong. We have pointed out that, even if it were desirable 
to give the prospect a complete and accurate description 
of the Compton Service, it would not be possible. Now 
we turn that statement around the other way and say that, 
even if it were possible, 7t would not be desirable. 

This may sound astonishing at first. We can hear the 
beginner exclaim: ‘‘Do you mean to say that it wouldn’t 
be a good thing to tell the prospect, if we could, all about 
the wonderful details of the Compton Service?” Yes, that 
is exactly what we mean, and we are going to dwell on that 
point at some length because it involves the most important 
and fundamental principle of salesmanship. 


Nobody ever buys an article for the sake of the article 
itself. What people want and what they pay for is the 
USE of that article. A prospect may ask ‘‘What is it?”’ 
But the real question in the back of that prospect’s mind 
is ‘‘WHAT WILL IT DO FOR ME?”’ 


It is true that nearly all persons think that the best way 
of finding out what an article will do for them is to find out 
what it is, how it is made, ete. But it isn’t. It might be 
the best way, if it were humanly possible to examine an 
article free from all prejudice one way or the other. The 
human mind, however, is too complicated a thing and its 
processes too intricate and interlocking ever to be free from 
prejudices. 

Examples of Human Prejudice. —Let two people, equally 
alert and intelligent, study in exactly the same way the 
details of shoe manufacturing, so that each knows just as 
much as the other about how good footwear ought to be 
made. Do you imagine they will both agree, then, on the 
best brand of shoes? A hundred to one against it! Little 
things they are not conscious of will sway them apart. 

Yet a good salesman, talking in terms of use instead of 
describing manufacturing details, might easily bring those 
two people to a perfect agreement in half an hour. He 
would do it by appealing to their tastes and prejudices, 


“Cold Facts’ and Prejudices 85 








not by challenging their knowledge or asking them to make 
further investigations. 

Let’s take another example of this point from actual life. 
Not long ago there were two brands of automobile lubricating 
oil on the market, both of which were manufactured by the 
same company, in the same way, out of the same raw mate- 
rial. Except in name, there was not the slightest difference 
between those two brands. Yet each brand had its thousands 
of users, who praised their own and condemned the other 
brand. Why was this possible? Because a good salesman 
(who may have been none other than a well meaning friend) 
had planted in each user’s mind a prejudice in favor of his 
pet brand. The user was in a frame of mind where he was 
always on the lookout for signs confirming his good opinion 
of that brand. But if, by any chance, he had to use the 
other brand, his attitude was reversed. At the least thing 
that went wrong, he blamed that “inferior” oil, and the 
strange part of all this is that everyone of those motorists 
would have told you that his opinion was based on nothing 
but “cold facts.” 

No one is free from the sway of prejudices of this kind. 
It is a trait of human nature—one of the strongest and most 
persistent. It explains why a long and detailed description 
of the Compton Service is not only unnecessary but may 
actually do harm, because it appeals merely to the prospect’s 
cold judgment, and it is when cold judgment alone is appealed 
to, that prejudices and false impressions are most likely to 
creep in. 

Proof that Long Description is not Necessary.—As a 
concrete application of this principle, you might sell many 
prospects if you had no sample pages at all, using nothing 
but a good strong sales talk aided by a few commendation 
letters. But you would sell mighty few if you just handed 
them your prospectus or one of the volumes and told them 
to look it over for themselves and make up their minds. 

One of our saleswomen illustrated this forcefully in the 
summer of 1923 when she made two sales in one day to 
two mothers who were fond of travel. The only thing in 
the pros that she showed in detail was the map of the Balkans 
(page 308). Pointing out a few historic places—Serajevo, 
where the murder was committed that started the World 
War, Gallipoli, Constantinople, the ruins of ancient Troy, 
the island of Milos where the Venus de Milo was found, 
Athens, Sparta, Mt. Olympus, Vesuvius, Etna, etc.—she 
mentioned some attractive and interesting thing about 
each of them. Then she showed how this was just one small 


Imagination Beats Logic 86 





corner of a world filled with fascinating places, all of which 
you could visit whenever you chose if you only had Comp- 
ton’s. And she closed by saying: 

“And all of your travelling, Mrs. Brown, will only cost 
you ten cents a day. This little slip of paper (extending 
the contract blank) is a ticket to every city and country 
in the world.” 

The solicitor explained the important points of C. P. E., 
such as the general arrangement, the Fact-Index and the 
Outlines, after she had taken the orders, so the subscribers 
would know how to use the work, but in each case the sale 
itself was made by a direct appeal to the imagination. And 
this same appeal could have been made with any map at 
all. The fact that the map in question was out of C. P. FE. 
simply helped to make the connection of ideas closer and 
more vivid. 

While we do not recommend such an extremely indirect 
demonstration as a pattern to be habitually followed, it 
shows how much can be done by suggestion and appeals 
to the imagination. In the end those two prospects probably 
had a truer conception of the spirit and value of C. P. E. 
than if they had gone over page after page with detailed 
care. 

A subscriber full of curiosity and enthusiasm about the 
Compton Service will get far more out of the Service than 
one who has merely a cool and reasoned appreciation for 
its merits. The former will use it herself and will transfer 
her enthusiasm to her children and husband; the latter 
may be content with the thought that she has a fine reference 
work in her library without ever learning to appreciate the 
life and spirit of those pages. 


How Does Quality Help to Make Sales?—Some reader 
with a logical mind is sure to remark at this point: “If 
the salesman’s suggestions count for so much more than the 
actual quality of C. P. E., then it would be just as easy to 
sell a poor set of books as a good set.”’ 

And that is literally true—so far as the prospect is con- 
cerned*. We all know that many inferior works have been 
successfully sold by skillful but unscrupulous sales people. 
The prospect, however, is only half of the transaction. In 

*Note: Of course, the ever-growing reputation of the Compton Service 
(which is a direct result of its superior qualities) does help to make many 
sales. But this is something the good salesman never takes into account 
in estimating his ability. The standard sales test is the sale that is made 
to a prospect upon whom no outside influence has been brought to bear. 


Always treat the ‘‘ready-made”’ sale as a sort of bonus; never rely onit asa 
regular part of your record. 


‘ 
a4 


Your Duty to the Prospect 87 


order to continue day after day producing real enthusiasm 
in prospects, you must have sincere enthusiasm yourself. 
“Fake” enthusiasm soon wears thin, and exposes the shriv- 
elled self respect of the salesman. That’s the reason that 
no salesmen, selling inferior works, ever have achieved 
permanent and real success. Their morale breaks down 
under the strain. 

The Compton Service was perfected down to its last 
details, not because the House of Compton hoped to appeal 
in that way to prospects, but because it wanted to give the 
highest possible grade of service to subscribers. 

With that thought behind you, you are free to throw all 
the power you have into your salesmanship, knowing that 
no matter how attractive you make that Service to your 
prospects, your subscribers will always get more than they 
expected. 

You Must Decide for the Prospect.—It is up to you to 
determine whether that prospect needs the Compton Service 
and whether she can afford it. You base your opinion on 
what you can observe in the home. In rare cases you may 
learn later of some real impediment, such as grave illness 
or financial misfortune, which may cause you to change your 
decision and voluntarily abandon the sale. But bear in 
mind always that you are the one who must make this 
decision, not the prospect who cannot possibly have a full 
appreciation of the value of the Compton Service to her 
and her children and whose judgment, therefore, cannot 
be taken as final. 

To beginners this may sound like a drastic principle, that 
a stranger entering a woman’s home should undertake to 
decide a matter of this kind. Yet, when you reflect on it, 
you will find that it is perfectly reasonable and natural. 
You are in the position of a doctor examining the educational 
health of the household. A doctor does not consult the 
tastes and prejudices of his patients before prescribing a 
remedy. His decision is based solely on his training and 
experience, and, once his decision is made, it is his duty to 
persuade his patients by any legitimate means at his com- 
mand to follow his instructions. Similarly, when you have 
decided that a prospect really needs the Compton Service, 
it becomes your duty to persuade that prospect by any 
legitimate means at your command to take it. 

Your Power and Responsibility.—You must, of course, 
never forget that the power of salesmanship carries with it 
grave responsibilities. Once you have mastered it, it gives 
you an almost sure control over others. This control can 


Read This—and Remember It! 88 





be used for bad as well as for good purposes, just as a physi- 
cian’s or a lawyer’s knowledge can be turned to good or bad 
account. When it comes to deciding questions for a pros- 
pect, therefore, remember always that the ethics of sales- 
manship require that you shall consider carefully the 
prospect’s interests as well as your own. 

In actual life, what are those interests? Short of absolute 
poverty—poverty so extreme that 10 cents a day would 
make the difference between food and starvation or between 
health and sickness—can you think of any really valid 
reason why you should refuse to give a mother the help she 
needs for training and educating her children? Does the 
fact that she may not fully realize that need alter the case 
in the slightest degree? It is part of your work to persuade 
her, against her first wishes if necessary, that she owes that 
advantage to her children. What would you think of a 
doctor who would let a patient suffer, because the patient 
said that the first taste of the medicine was a little bitter? 


* * * 


It makes no difference to you what reason a mother 
has for getting the Compton Service. It may be love 
for her children and an intelligent desire to help. It 
may be asense of duty. It may be pride, vanity, a feeling 
of rivalry toward some other mother. It may be fear of 
the consequences to her children if she refuses to help 
them. It may be nothing more than weakness of char- 
acter, which makes it difficult for her to refuse your 
cffer. Whether the mother’s motive is worthy or un- 


worthy is of little importance, as far as the children are ~ 


concerned. THEY WILL GET THE BENEFIT JUST 
THE SAME. 
eee 

The thing that strengthens your determination is the 
knowledge that the Compton Service was made as perfect 
as it was possible to make it for one purpose only—to help 
children toward a broader and finer education. You know 
that it will do this every time for every child that comes in 
contact with it. Jf you allow a prospect through arro- 
gance, or thoughtlessness, or indifference, or ignorance, or 
false economy, or selfishness to persuade you to give up a sale, 
then you have failed in your duty to her children, to her, and to 
yourself. And you can, if you wish, forget about yourself, 
because her loss is greater than yours. Another prospect 
may be waiting next door, but there is no other service like 
the Compton Service to take its place in that home. 


What the Sample Pages Do 89 


Give this whole question careful thought. Then you will 
never quit an interview until you have exhausted every 
means at your command to make a sale. 


Establishing Confidence.—Now let’s sum up briefly the 
purpose of the Demonstration from the prospectus. If it 
isn’t to give the prospect a detailed description of the Comp- 
ton Service, what is it for? 

We know that the Demonstration as a whole must arouse 
Interest and create Desire. But to understand how this is 
accomplished we must grasp clearly the part that the sample 
pages play in this Demonstration. 

First of all they establish Confidence. We have not 
treated this question of Confidence as a separate sales step, 
because it runs through the entire sale from beginning to 
end. You create Confidence by your appearance and man- 
ner, your evident sincerity, and your enthusiasm. If the 
other parts of the sale are properly carried out, the general 
question of Confidence will take care of itself. It will help 
you, however, to get at the principles of the Demonstration 
a little more clearly, if we analyze briefly the particular kind 
of Confidence which is produced by the prospectus. 

There used to be a book salesman in Chicago who carried 
around with him a list containing the names of certain 
people who, he knew were always ready to recommend the 
work he was selling. He would show this list to a prospect 
and, producing two or three nickels from his pocket, would 
say to her: ‘I wish you would call up any of these sub- 
scribers you choose. Ask them about this work. If they don’t 
tell you that it is the finest thing that was ever made, I will 
give you a set free right now.”’ This proved to be a most 
effective sales appeal, creating immediate confidence and 
carrying conviction. But he said that never once did a 
prospect actually go to the telephone and call a subscriber. 

In other words, the fact that the prospect knew that she 
could make the test if she wanted to was enough in itself to 
establish Confidence. She felt that the salesman would 
not dare make such a claim if he could not back it up. 

The same thing applies to showing sample pages. If you 
did not have those sample pages with you, then the prospect 
might get the idea that you had something to conceal and 
that you were unwilling to show your wares for fear of 
exposing their defects. But when you bring the samples 
with you, nine times out of ten the prospect will not try 
to investigate them closely, for she feels that they must be 
very fine or you would not dare to show them. The mere 
fact that you display them before her establishes Confidence. 


Appealing Through the Eyes 90 
— OO ___=_===_S________—_ 


We said earlier in this chapter that nearly all persons 
think that the best way of judging the value of an article is 
to investigate it thoroughly. We know they can’t make a 
thorough investigation and that, even if they did, they would 
probably gain false impressions and miss the real spirit of 
the Compton Service. But the showing of articles and 
pictures from the prospectus satisfies them on this point. 

In other words, the Demonstration from the sample 
pages makes them feel either that they have made all the 
investigation that is necessary or that they could easily do so 
if they chose. In either case, Confidence is established. 


Making the Sales Talk More Vivid.—The second great 
purpose of the sample pages is to provide something which 
will fix the prospect’s attention and reach her mind through 
her eyes, just as the words of your sales talk reach her mind 
through her ears. Those pages are like the lantern slides 
a lecturer uses to entertain his audience while he tells them 
about many things that cannot be pictured. Your whole 
purpose in the Demonstration is to paint a vision in the 
prospect’s mind of the benefits that she and her children will 
derive from using the Compton Service. The sample pages 
hold her attention while you are at work and make the picture 
you paint more real and vivid. 

* * * 


It is to be hoped that all of the foregoing discussion will 
not appear too theoretical to you. It deals frankly and in 
a somewhat unconventional way with the very fundamentals 
of human psychology in salesmanship. ‘These fundamentals 
are worth a great deal of thought and study. Once you get 
them firmly established in your mind, you will avoid many 
common mistakes and will be prepared to handle almost 
any emergency. They are theoretical only in the sense 
that they describe general principles. As soon as you learn 
to apply those principles, you will find them the most in- 
tensely practical portion of the entire manual. 


HOW TO AROUSE INTEREST 


We have examined the underlying principles which must 
govern a good Demonstration of the Compton Service, if 
we are to achieve its great two-fold purpose of arousing 
Interest and creating Desire. Now let’s consider in detail 
the actual methods of arousing Interest during interviews. 

We pictured at the opening of this chapter the state of 
mind of the average prospect at the moment the Demon- 
stration begins. She is curious about what you have to 
offer, but she is still full of doubts and may even be deter- 


Interest Paves the Way 91 








mined to refuse your proposition at the first opportunity. 

- Your first task is to fill her mind with impressions and 
ideas that are so attractive that all her doubts and adverse 
intentions are forgotton, at least for the moment. That is 
what Interest means—something which for the time being 
occupies your whole mind to the exclusion of other things. 
When you come to create Desire, you will actually replace 
those doubts and adverse intentions by positive convictions 
and favorable intentions. But you cannot do that yet. 
You have to pave the way first with Interest. 

For the sake of illustration, compare the prospect’s mind 
to a blackboard which is already partly filled with the 
writing of Refusal. If you try to erase that writing the 
very first thing, she will naturally object. So you seize a 
bit of the brilliant red chalk of Interest and start filling in 
the blank spaces. Soon the prospect forgets about the other 
writing on that board, and you can rub it out little by little, 
putting your own message of Desire in its place. 


What to Show the Prospect.—The Standard Sales Talk 
in its four sections covers as great a variety of material 
from the prospectus as you are ever likely to need. You 
may, of course, find in the prospectus some pages which 
are not mentioned in the printed talk, but which you like 
better for special purposes. Naturally you will use your 
own judgment in such matters. But be sure that you have 
a purpose for everything you show. Know what appeal you 
are making and why you are making it. 

Here are some of the things to consider in selecting this 
material: The ages and grades of children; the nationality 
of the prospect; the religion of the prospect; and the interests 
of the prospect outside the home, such as society, clubs, 
music, art, etc. 

Ages and Grades of Children: Select subjects suited to 
the age of the children and their progress in school. The 
Compton Service is designed to be a real help to users of 
all ages, but you will manifestly create difficulties for your- 
self, if you show juvenile material to a mother whose boys 
are in high school or high school material to a mother whose 
child is in kindergarten. If there are several children of 
widely varying ages, find out in advance or from the mother 
herself which one needs the most help, and then concentrate 
the first part of your Demonstration on that child, following 
later with material suited to the others. When in doubt, 
it is usually best to focus your talk on the younger children, 
but you can usually get the information you want direct 
from the mother by such questions as ‘‘Your boy, Robert, 


Special Interest Appeals 92 





seems to be ahead of other boys of his age. Are all of your 
children as bright as Robert?” or “There’s usually one child 
un every family that seems to enjoy school work better than any 
of the others. Is that the case with your children?” 


Nationality or Race: This usually does not play so im- 
portant a part as the other considerations that govern your 
choice of material from the pros, but it is well to bear it in 
mind. For instance, an Irish mother of Sinn Fein leanings 
will not grow enthusiastic over the full-page picture of 
Lloyd George, nor will it help to make a sale to a mother 
of recent German extraction to emphasize the page contain- 
ing the picture of General Foch. In Jewish homes always 
show the article on “Jews.” 


Religion: When there is strong religious feeling in a 
household, you can make it help you enormously if you are 
tactful or you can let it kill a sale instantly if you blunder 
the least little bit. The first maxim to observe is this: 
If you are not sure of your ground, leave the pages dealing 
with religious subjects severely alone. Whenever possible, 
however, make sure of your ground by finding out the pros- 
pect’s religious faith. This can be done in advance from 
friends and neighbors or detected after you enter a home from 
pictures, magazines, books, etc. Attendance at parochial 
schools means, of course, that the family is Catholic. Mem- 
bership in Masonic orders indicates Protestantism. In the 
home of Christian Scientists you will usually find a copy of 
‘Science and Health” in evidence in the living room or 
copies of The Christian Science Sentinal or The Christian 
Science Journal. A crucifix on the wall, pictures of Madon- 
nas and saints, a portrait of the Pope are often found in 
Catholic homes. 

When you learn that a prospect belongs to one religious 
faith, it is important that you should avoid calling attention 
to articles dealing with other religious faiths. This is not 
done to deceive, for any intelligent prospect knows that a 
good encyclopedia must have impartial articles on all sub- 
jects; but if the question is raised during the Demonstration, 
it is likely to be overemphasized in the prospect’s mind and 
lead into dangerous discussions. 


Outside Interests: A knowledge of the outside interests 


of a mother will often enable you to close easily an otherwise »’ 


difficult sale. This is particularly true where the children 
are of high school age and the mother feels that they do not 
need much more help in their studies. If the mother has 
social aspirations, her interest may be caught by such things 


4 


Emphasizing Sales Points 93 


as the Furniture article and pictures as a help in problems 
of interior decoration. The pages on Political Science, 
Literature, or the Fine Arts will appeal to the club woman. 


* * 


All the special material mentioned above should, of course, 
be used as Reserve material, the foundation of any Demon- 
stration in homes where there are children being first directed 
toward helping them in their regular education. 


How to Show the Pages.—Bear in mind what we said in 
the beginning of this chapter that the pages from the pros 
should be used merely to fix the attention and hold the 
interest of the prospect while you paint a picture on her 
mind of what the Compton Service will do for her and her 
children. Remembering this, you will dwell only on those 
details which help to complete that mental picture. You 
will not read long extracts from the articles. You will not 
dwell too much on details or explanations. But you will 
make every detail you do show perfectly clear. 

In reading selections or showing pictures, you will not 
take it for granted that the prospect grasps their significance 
unaided. On the contrary you will point out definitely 
the things you want to emphasize. You will comment on 
them and drive them home forcefully as illustrations of 
such things as Beauty, Interest-Value, Clearness, Com- 
pleteness, Usefulness, etc. This is done by such phrases as 
“Tsn’t that beautiful?’”’—“You can see how interesting that 
makes a subject we usually think is so dull’’—‘Doesn’t that 
make it clear?”’—“‘This shows how complete the Compton 
Service is in every detail”—“Things like that are what make 
this Service so useful to mothers.” 


Testing Prospect’s Interest.—During your Demonstra- 
tion you must watch the prospect closely to gauge the degree 
of her interest in what you are showing and saying. When- 
ever you see that some particular subject has awakened 
unusual interest, you will of course give it special emphasis 
and bring in all the selling talk possible in that connection. 

It is often difficult to tell from a prospect’s manner or 
expression whether she is really interested. Some people 
will appear to follow you closely, nodding and agreeing with 
everything you say—when in reality their minds are a 
thousand miles away. Beware of this. It is a far more 
promising sign if a prospect interrupts and objects. 

To make sure that the prospect is listening carefully to 
what you are saying, it is well to interject frequent questions, 
requiring definite answers, such as “Has Robert had this 


Keeping Interest Alive 94 








subject in school yet?” Failure to arouse Interest usually 
springs from one of two causes—improper selection of 
material or a monotonous voice or manner in making your 
Demonstration. If you see that Interest is slipping, do 
not hesitate to interrupt yourself and turn to something 
else. One of the most effective ways is to cut yourself off 
right in the middle of a sentence, saying: “Oh, I know some- 
thing that will interest you particularly, Mrs. Brown. I’m 
surprised I didn’t think of it before.” And then turn briskly 
to some other part of the pros and drive home some entirely 
new point. This will never fail to arouse new curiosity and 
interest. 


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thousand to one against you. You must 
know where you are going—and keep 
moving. Remember that Life is now— 
today. Your energy is burning constantly, 
You cannot save it up, like money, or turn 
it off, as you would a light. If you don’t 
keep that energy constantly at work in 
the machinery of success, its power to 
bring you happiness is lost. Too many 
people are always preparing to live and 
never really living, planning for success 
and never succeeding. 


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XV. Creating Desire 





NE of the commonest faults of salesmen is to mistake 

Interest for Desire. You will hear them say—beginners 

particularly—after an unsuccessful interview: “She 
seemed so very interested in everything I showed her; I can’t 
understand why I couldn’t get her order.” 

Yet a little thought on the matter will show you why 
Interest alone can never make a sale. You have all seen those 
shop windows in which pretty young women demonstrate 
vacuum cleaners. There is usually a crowd standing around 
watching. The crowd attracts the Attention of passersby. 
Some stop just long enough to find out what is taking place 
and then go on again—their Interest has not even been 
aroused. But others linger on, watching every move the 

_young woman makes, such as picking up pins and threads 
from a carpet, scattering sugar and drawing designs in it with 
the cleaner, and so on. Their Interest has been caught and in 
their minds they are saying to themselves: ‘‘Isn’t it wonder- 
ful the way that thing works? What is she going to do next? 
What is that design she’s making? Do you suppose she will 
be able to pick up that long thread over there? You’d think 
all that stuff going in there would clog up the machinery?” 

So far nothing but Interest. You see men and boys stand- 
ing there who could never have any use for a vacuum cleaner, 
who wouldn’t know what to do with one if you gave it to 
them. Interest alone holds them there for perhaps ten or 
fifteen minutes. Yet, if it held them there two hours, they 
would never think of buying a vacuum cleaner. 

But in that crowd there may be a woman who, after she 
has watched a while, begins to say to herself: ‘“That thing is 
a lot better than a broom. Saves a lot of work. It would save 
mea lot of work. I could get the house cleaned in no time. 
I wonder how much it costs. I’d surely like to own one.” 
Desire has taken the place of Interest. She has forgotten all 
about the young woman in the window. In her imagination 
she sees herself using that machine in her own home, getting 
her work done more easily, saving her strength, winning more 
leisure time. Her Desire may grow so strong that she will 
walk into the store then and there and inquire about price and 
terms. If she meets a competent salesman, he may be able 
to bring the sale to a Close right off. 

It was absolutely essential to create Desire in that woman’s 
mind before she could become a purchaser. Interest is neces- 


95 


What is Desire? 96 








sary. It concentrates the mind on the article in question and 
prepares the way for Desire. But so long as it remains mere 
Interest, there can be no sale. That woman had to stop look- 
ing at that vacuum cleaner merely as an interesting machine 
and had to begin to think what it meant to her, before the idea 
of buying it could ever arise. From being simply a piece of 
machinery the cleaner had to become an idea—a service. 

You may say that Desire in this case was a natural result 
of the Interest and that it didn’t require any particular sales- 
manship to create it. This is true to a certain extent with so 
simple an idea as that involved in a vacuum cleaner. But 
even in such cases merchants will tell you that one demon- 
strator will bring in far more inquiries than another, perhaps 
because she puts more dramatic meaning into her gestures, 
suggesting vividly the ease and pleasure of using the device 
in question. In any event, most forms of salesmanship call 
for definite steps on the part of the salesman to produce 
Desire in prospects. 

To sum up, then, Interest is a passive condition—a condi- 
tion of inaction, during which the mind does nothing but 
remain open to receive impressions. Desire, on the other 
hand, is an active condition, when the mind starts to build 
attractive pictures for itself and definitely moves toward the 
thing desired. Interest is impersonal. It is directed outward 
toward the thing itself. Desire is personal. It is directed in- 
ward toward a consideration of what the thing can do for the 


one desiring it. 
* Ok x 


Let’s see how these principles apply to the Demonstration 
of the Compton Service. When you have gained the Attention 
of a prospect, it is not difficult to arouse Interest through a 
proper selection of pages from the prospectus. And you can 
hold that Interest almost indefinitely by a lively and enter- 
taining method of presenting those pages—constantly show- 
ing some fascinating new picture or reading a selection from 
some attractive article. But, if that is all you do, you are not 
taking a single step forward, you are not turning Interest into 
Desire, and you will get an unpleasant surprise when you try 
to Close. 

Of course, there will be a few prospects who will do your 
work for you—that is, they will translate Interest into Desire 
without your aid, and you may be able to Close a few of 
these. But in the long run your sales average will be low. 

The prospect’s Interest in beautiful color-pages like the 
plates of the Butterflies or the Bees is not a selling point by 


Five Great Motives 97 








itself. Her Interest in the fact that the different grades Of tea 
all come from the same plant or in the manner in/ which birds 
- catch fish for their masters in China—these things by them- 
selves will not make her want to own the Compton Service. 

Of course, while the prospect’s mind is filled with thoughts 
of beautiful pictures, or of tea, or of birds catching fish, there 
is no room for unfavorable thoughts or thoughts of refusal. 
But at the same time there is no room for the ideas and 
visions that create Desire. You have merely paved the way 
for those ideas and visions by wiping out obstacles. If you 
are going to take advantage of that Interest, you must see to 
it that the thoughts of tea, for instance, are immediately re- 
placed by some Desire-creating appeal such as ‘“‘Children will 
learn easily when subjects are presented like that” or “I would 
enjoy reading books myself that were filled with interesting 
things like that.” 

In other words, you must use every bit of Interest you are 
able to arouse as a hook upon which to hang a Desire motive; 
otherwise that Interest is wasted as far as helping to make the 
Sale is concerned. 

MOTIVES THAT CREATE DESIRE 


The Desire to own an article may spring from several dif- 
ferent motives. At first thought, it might seem that there are 
an infinite number of such motives. But when you analyze all 
the reasons that ever prompt people to make purchases, you 
will find that they can be roughly divided into five great 
classes of motives, as follows: 


1. Utility. 
2. Money. 
3. Pride. 

4. Pleasure. 
5. Caution. 


We make this classification, not for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a theory or evoking a discussion, but only to provide 
a simple and practical way of handling this all-important sub- 
ject of buying motives. The classification is not original with 
us, having been in use for many years in sales literature. 

A few writers of cynical disposition have given different 
names to these motives. The Money motive has been called 
Greed or Avarice; the Utility motive has been called Laziness 
or Indolence; Caution has been called Fear; Pride has been 
called Love of Display; and Pleasure has been called Selfish- 
ness. But this is a narrow view of human nature. While there 
are people in whom these motives may sometimes take the 


Varieties of Utility 98 





baser form, this is not generally true. And certainly there is 
nothing blameworthy in a proper concern about Money, in 
a disposition to save labor through articles of great Utility, in 
a suitable Caution, in true Pride, or in a love for the finer 
Pleasures of life. 

Now let’s see the principal ways in which the Compton 
Service can appeal to these various buying motives. 

1. THE UTILITY MOTIVE 

This is the most universal in its appeal of all the motives 
and it will usually form the main basis of your sales talk. The 
varieties of Utility to be extracted from the Compton Service 
are almost infinite in number. All we can do here is to list 
the principal appeals. 


Let’s consider first the Utility to children: 


The Compton Service helps children in their school 
work, particularly in connection with the newer educa- 
tional methods, such as the Problem-Project. It helps 
them to prepare themes and reports, gives them an ever- 
ready source of supplementary reading, enables them to 
review quickly subjects in which they may have fallen 
behind, clears up difficult points, makes dull topics inter- 
esting, furnishes an inexhaustible supply of picture 
material, etc. 


It enables children to get more profit from school work 
with less effort. It saves them time and energy, prevents 
discouragement, and stimulates the desire to learn. 


4 oe It cultivates the reading habit and develops the love 
| of good books. 


By teaching them how to use books to the best advan- 
tage, it enables children to answer their own questions 
and solve their own problems. This, in turn, tends to 
develop self-reliance and enterprise. 


The style and spirit of the Compton Service stimulates 
the imagination of children, encourages their individuality, 
and so tends to bring out whatever talent or genius they 
may possess. 


It keeps the minds of children occupied with fine 
thoughts and high ideals and so builds good character 
and healthy moral tone. 

Now let’s consider the Utility to mothers in connection» 
with their children: 

The Compton Service helps and directs the mother in 
carrying out her share of the home education of her 
children. 


The Money Motive 99 








It enables her to answer questions herself when the 
children are too young to use the books, and later on it 
relieves her of the responsibility of those questions, 
since the children will gladly go to the books directly. 


It relieves her of anxiety over the children’s progress 
in school. 


It relieves her of constantly worrying about whether 


\ she is doing all she should for her children’s education, 


since she knows she has given them the best possible 
help. 

If the mother wants to take an active part in directing 
her children’s studies and reading, the Compton Service 
provides her with all the material necessary for that 
purpose. 


If she wants to read aloud to them, she always has 
suitable stories and articles at hand. 


The Compton Service enables her to train her children 
and mold their character as she desires. 


It establishes a bond between mother and children, 
making it possible for the mother to keep in direct touch 
with her children’s interests and tastes, and thus strength- 
ening her influence in their lives. 


It makes it possible for the mother to advise and help 
her children intelligently in the choice of their careers. 

And now let’s consider the Utility to the mothers and 
fathers themselves. 


It enables the mother to round out her own education, 


to study particularly those cultural subjects not taught 
in schools, to answer any questions that come up in con- 
nection with her current reading, her household work, or 
her social life. 


If she is a club woman, it will be invaluable to her in 
preparing papers, in reading up in advance on subjects 
about which the club is to hear lectures, in preparing for 
discussions of current topics, etc. 


In general, the Compton Service serves the whole 
family as an encyclopedia, a dictionary, a study-guide, a 
library of good reading, and a periodical of current events. 


2. THE MONEY MOTIVE 


The Compton Service can only make an indirect appeal to 
the Money motive, since it offers no immediate financial profit 
as do stocks and bonds or merchandise which is bought to be 
sold at a gain. The indirect motive is nevertheless very pow- 


on 


Appeals to Pride 100 


erful with certain types of prospects, particularly in those 
families where the father’s earning power has been hampered 
through a lack of education. 


The Compton Service will help to train and educate 
children so that they will be able to earn more money later 
in life, not only for themselves but also to help their 
parents in their old age. 


This appeal can be based on the educational value of the 
Service as a whole, but is specially strong when made in con- 
nection with a Demonstration of industry pages together 
with a talk on industrial training and vocational guidance. 

The idea of economy provides a somewhat different angle 
to the Money motive. This will appeal to the bargain-hunt- 
ing instinct of the mother. 


The Compton Service provides a very high quality of 
merchandise at a comparatively low price. It is equal to 
three or four sets of books rolled into one. It provides 
virtually everything that any books can provide. A home 
with the Compton Service does not have to spend money 
on other works. Therefore it is an economy to buy it. 


3. THE PRIDE MOTIVE 


Pride is a powerful force in all people. In its simplest form 
it consists of a wish to equal or excel others. Sometimes the 
feeling of superiority already exists in the prospect. Some- 
times it has to be encouraged and developed by suggestion. 
In any event, appeals to the Pride motive are among the most 
powerful at your command in selling the Compton Service. 
Here are some examples: 


The Compton Service will make the prospect’s children 
stand out ahead of other children in school. They will 
be known as bright children among neighbors and friends 
and this will reflect credit on the mother. 


The fact that the mother owns the Compton Service will 
set her apart aS a progressive, enterprising, and up-to- 
date parent. It will prove also that she is a good mother 
who has her children’s welfare at heart. 


If she has no books in her home, the acquisition of 
C. P. E. will give an intellectual tone to the household. 
If she already has a library, the fine binding and wonder- 
ful quality of the books will add to it an air of distinction. 
Callers will admire them and be impressed by them. 

By getting the books, the prospect will prove that she 
can afford the best, just as well as the wealthy family 
next door. 


Pleasure and Caution 101 


Or, since the poor family next door could afford them, 
surely she must have them too. 


The Compton Service will enable the mother to acquire 
superior knowledge, culture, and ease in conversation, 
which will allow her to shine socially. 


4. THE PLEASURE MOTIVE 


While most of the other motives involve the question of 
Pleasure indirectly, there is also the simple direct Pleasure 
the Compton Service brings, which, with many prospects, will 
prove a strong motive by itself. For example: 


It provides delightful reading for idle moments for the 
entire family—mother, father, and children. 


It will be great fun to watch the children’s surprise 
when they find out what a wonderful present their mother 
has bought them. It will be a pleasant surprise for the 
father, too. 


It will help the family to play puzzle games, to get up 
interesting discussions when friends come in, to plan 
entertainments, etc. 


The books will make a bright spot in the library. They 
will look so well on this table or in that rack. 


5. THE CAUTION MOTIVE 


This is a powerful motive with virtually all prospects, but 
especially strong with the careful, cautious mothers that are 
often hard to reach in any other way. The appeal always 
takes a negative form, consisting of thoughts of what may 
happen, 2f they do not get the Compton Service. Instead of 
seeing the positive benefits of owning it, the prospect sees 
the bad results of not owning it and buys to escape them. 

It is evident, therefore, that an appeal to the Caution mo- 
tive can be made by simply reversing any of the positive 
appeals. We cite a few examples: 


If the mother does not get the Compton Service— 


Her children may fall behind in their school work, may 
fail to get the higher quality of education they deserve, 
and may grow up in ignorance. 


Her children may have difficulty making a good living 
later in life, and may fail to help their parents in their old 
age. 

The mother may be compelled to spend more money 
later on making up for deficiencies, which the Compton 
Service would have prevented. 


Where Your Skill Counts 102 








The children may feel that they have to go outside the 
home for the help they need and the es may lose her 
influence over them. 


The children may grow up to be wild and develop bad 
traits of character and vicious habits. 


The children’s health may be impaired because they 
have to work so hard or worry so much over their school 
work. 


Relatives and friends may blame the mother for not 
giving her children the help they need. 


The mother may be humiliated by seeing other children 
surpass her own and win honors because they had the 
help she refused. 


The mother herself may fall behind and become a 
‘‘back number” because she fails to keep up her own 
education. 


The list of appeals based on the Caution motive can be 
extended almost without end. The ones we give here can 
serve as examples for any others you choose to use. 


* * * 


EMPHASIZING THESE SALES MOTIVES 


If this entire manual did nothing else except induce every 
member of the Compton field force to emphasize these sales 
motives properly, it would be worth all the trouble and ex- 
pense of preparing it. We repeat and will continue to repeat 
again and again that every bit of your Demonstration which 
does not lead up to such sales motives is wasted energy. These 
are the forces that make prospects want to buy, and, unless 
you can put them to work on your side, the strongest Close 
ever devised won’t bring results. 

What is the best way of introducing these appeals into your 
sales talk? Obviously no set method can be laid down. In the 
Standard Sales Talk we could do little more than suggest a 
few of them. To give that talk or any other standard talk 
real life and selling power, you will have to add a bountiful 
seasoning of these sales appeals to suit the occasion. 

At the beginning of the last chapter we said that the 
Demonstration ‘offers a greater opportunity than any other 
part of the sale for individual skill, for variety of appeal, and 
for the display of tact and judgment. ” That applies chiefly 
right here in this matter of creating Desire through sales 
motives. The choice of motive, the character of the appeals 
you make, the manner of making them—these things are 
largely up to you. 


7 


Think Always of Motives 103 


It is possible, however, to give certain general directions for 
your guidance, and that is what we will now proceed to do. 

Training Yourself on Sales Motives.—You must be com- 
pletely saturated with the motive ideas before you can pass 
them along to prospects effectively. You must train yourself 
to think of every little detail connected with the Compton 
Service in terms of its sales value. Study your prospectus 
from this point of view. Select some special appeal to fit 
every page and every picture. Do the same thing with your 
letters of commendation. Ask yourself in every case: ‘‘What 
sales motives can this material appeal to? How can I use 
this to illustrate the questions of Utility, Money, Pride, 
Pleasure or Caution?” 

If you think of a sales appeal that you are not already 
using, find some way of linking it to the material you have 
and try it out at the first opportunity. Find out from others 
the appeals they are using most successfully and make them 
part of your sales equipment. 

Direct Appeals.—The simplest way of introducing these 
sales appeals into your sales talk is to link them directly with 
the material you are showing to arouse the prospect’s Interest. 
Suppose, for instance, you are showing the tea picture which 
tells how the different grades of tea come from the same 
plant, you can say: ‘‘You can see, Mrs. Brown, how things 
like that will help Robert in his school work and how much more 
he will enjoy his home study with helps of that kind.’ 

This kind of direct statement is the simplest and often the 
best way of presenting the appeal to the prospect. Of course, 
you can expand and develop the appeal as much as you like, 
painting a picture of Robert’s progress and the mother’s 
pride in him, ete. But you must, of course, take care that 
you do not try to build too much on too small a foundation, 
It is often better to lay a little more Interest foundation 
between the various appeals by showing some more from the 
prospectus. 

Indirect Appeals.—Sometimes appeals can be made more 
naturally by using indirect methods. A letter of commenda- 
tion is one of the commonest forms of indirect appeal. By 
using the letter, you let someone else talk for you and tell 
the prospect what the Compton Service can do for her and 
her children. In addition to making the sales appeal, the 
letter establishes confidence, and it is this which gives them 
their added value. If the letter is from another parent, it is 
likely furthermore to arouse a spirit of rival pride which will 
suggest to the prospect that she too should get the Compton 
Service. 


The Value of Sales Stories 104 








Perhaps the most effective of all methods of conveying 
sales appeals to prospects is through little stories about other 
prospects and what they said and did or stories about the 
experiences of subscribers to the Service. 

Every sales person should collect a good stock of such 
stories. We print a number of typical stories in the chapter 
on “Meeting Objections” which will serve as examples. Not 
only do they add a valuable human touch to any sales talk, 
but they allow you to make appeals and suggestions which 
could not be made at all by the direct method. 

For instance, you may not want to suggest directly to a 
mother that her children are likely to turn out badly if she 
doesn’t do something to prevent it. But you can very properly 
tell her a little story like the following: 


“A few weeks ago, I was calling on a mother who was having 
a good deal of trouble with her children. The oldest boy, partic- 
ularly was disobedient and wild. And she said to me: ‘Miss 
Smith, rf these books didn’t do anything else than keep Jack at 
home a little more and get his mind interested in the finer things 
of life, they would be worth their weight in gold to me.’ And do 
you know, I met that mother on the street the other day and she 
stopped me and told me that her boy had become so interested 
an mechanics since he had the books, that he was spending 
almost all his spare time at home making things. She was so 
happy she almost cried.” 


Whatever appeal you want to make—no matter how 
difficult or delicate it may seem—you can suggest it easily 
and tactfully by this story method. 


Keep Sales Appeals Simple.—Don’t try to make too 
many Desire appeals at one time. Keep them few and simple. 
Select one or two that you think fit the situation best and 
drive them home hard. Watch for cues that will suggest 
the best appeals. If you find your first appeal is not meeting 
with a good response, you can always turn to another tack. 

Don’t make long explanations of any sales appeal. If it 
doesn’t seem to register at once, it will do no good to try to 
prove to the prospect that she ought to want the Compton 
Service for that particular reason. Let it go and try another. 
Of course, you mustn’t get drawn into arguments over these 
sales appeals. If a prospect says that she cannot see how the 
Compton Service could do what you claim for herself or her 
children, answer her with a little story like those suggested ~’ 
above, and then pass on to something else. 


* * 
* * 


Making Letters Talk 105 








| Demonstration Notes | 


Using Commendation Letters.—A few words of sugges- 
tion on the proper way of using commendation letters may 
be useful at this point. It goes without saying that you 
should always select the letter carefully to fit the case. This 
means that you must know thoroughly the contents of every 
letter you carry. On the other hand, your use of the letters 
must not have the appearance of a set formula. 

But more important than anything else, you must sell 
each letter you show to the prospect. An experienced field 
worker once reported that the letters she carried seemed to 
have very little effect on her prospects and she was on the 
point of abandoning their use altogether. It turned out that 
she was in the habit of making a little speech about the 
many great educators and experts who had recommended 
Compton’s and then reading the text of two or three letters 
rapidly, concluding by showing the names and signatures 
on the remainder. Of course this didn’t work. She was 
wasting her breath. 

You have to arouse the prospect’s interest in those letters 
just as much as in any other part of the Demonstration. 
Then you have to interpret and emphasize their meaning 
before they will help to create Desire. 

One or two letters properly presented are worth a bushel 
used carelessly and hastily. The actual reading from a letter 
should be the briefest part of the letter talk. You must pre- 
pare the prospect and arouse her Interest by speaking first of 
the author and praising his capacity and judgment. Then 
read with strong emphasis the best brief passage from the 
letter in question. Do not read it all. Then comment upon 
what you have read and emphasize its meaning strongly. 
We give an example of what we mean, using the Spaulding 
letter: 

“Here is a letter that will interest you, Mrs. Brown. (Show 
the letter and point to the signature). Dr. Spaulding is one of 
the great authorities on education in America. He has studied 
the educational systems of Europe. He has had practical experi- 
ence with children as a school teacher and principal in this 
country. He has written many books himself. And now he 1s 
head of the Department of Education at Yale University. You 
can be sure that a man like that knows what children need to 
help them and that he knows every educational work that has 
been published along that line. 


Controlling the Interview 106 








“Now see what he says about Compton’s: ‘As a practical 
encyclopedia for young people, it has no rival.’ 

“He does not say that Compton’s is a good set of books. He 
does not say it is among the best. He says it ts the very best of all 
—it has no rival. And you know that when a man of Dr. 
Spaulding’s type says a thing like that he means it.”’ 

With that kind of talk you really drive home a point so it 
sticks. Give that to a prospect, and you will not hear her 
say later on that she wants to investigate other encyclopedias 
before she makes a decision. That gate is closed. 

You can do the same thing for any letter in your collection. 
If you like the letter or any selection from it and feel that you 
can make it produce a true sales appeal for you, always take 
the trouble to formulate a little sales talk around it. You will 
be surprised to find out how valuable letters can be to you. 

Letting the Prospect Talk.—Don’t be afraid to let the 
prospect talk during the course of the Demonstration. Some 
sales people seem to feel that if the prospect gets a chance 
she will seize control of the interview and switch them from 
the track. This attitude in itself argues a lack of confidence, 
as if they felt that their control was none too secure and 
might easily be lost. 

If you try to keep a prospect from expressing herself, you 
run the risk of arousing her resentment. Besides, you cut 
yourself off from the surest source of information and guid- 
ance for the conduct of the remainder of the interview. 
The prospect’s chance remarks will usually tell you what 
material to show, what objections to forestall, and when you 
are in position to begin closing. 

You can always set aside unwelcome interruptions by some 
little sales story or tactful remark. If it is a direct question 
which you do not want to answer then and there, you can 
turn it off by saying: ‘I am just coming to that, Mrs. Brown. 
But first let me show you, etc. . . .” 

Often you can put the prospect off with a partial answer. 
Suppose, for instance, thé prospect asks you in the middle of 
the interview for the price of the Service. You can say: 
“The terms vary to suit the convenience of subscribers. It ts 
the most perfect payment plan you can imagine. There is just 
one more feature of the Service I want to explain and then I’ll 
tell you all about that plan.” 

In general you should welcome questions about the price 
or objections. They are signs that the prospect is beginning 
to feel the pull of Desire and is struggling a little to get away 
from it. The chapter on objections tells how to handle them. 
As far as questions are concerned, it is best not to answef 


Avoiding All Argument 107 








them fully or directly at the time they are asked, even if they 
are questions you are quite prepared to handle. 

’ An immediate answer may make the prospect feel that she 
has successfully gained command of the interview and may 
lead to further cross-questioning, which you will have 
difficulty in stopping once you have allowed it to start. The 
best way, as we have said, is to put it off for the moment, then 
come back to it a little later by saying: ‘‘You were asking a 
moment ago, Mrs. Brown, etc... .’ In that way you leave 
no doubt in her mind that you are in command and propose 
to stay in command. This will create added respect for you. 

Above all, no matter what the provocation or how good the 
opportunity may seem for scoring a point, you must refuse 
absolutely to be drawn into argument of any kind. If a 
prospect makes the most ridiculous or the most false state- 
ment imaginable, don’t contradict her or try to prove that 
she is wrong. That way lies failure. Let it go entirely, or 
else attack it indirectly later on. 

There is only one exception to this rule. That is when a 
prospect makes a false statement about the Compton Service 
based upon something she may have heard from some rival 
solicitor. You can deny such a statement as flatly as you 
please. But even here you will not allow yourself to be drawn 
into an argument over it. 


Working Up to a Climax.—In general the whole tone of 
your Demonstration should follow the natural path of human 
emotions. It should start off calmly and quietly, gaining 
gradually in enthusiasm as you proceed. If you put on 
‘““steam’’ before the prospect’s interest has been thoroughly 
aroused, if you seem to expect enthusiasm from the prospect 
too soon—your Demonstration is likely to strike a false note 
and fall flat. 

Reserve of manner is a power in all interviews. It leaves 
you leeway to increase your sales pressure at the Close when 
it is most effective. At that time your enthusiasm will be far 
more effective, if it comes out in strong contrast to your 
earlier conservativeness. 

Another suggestion along this same line. Suppose you 
learn early in your visit that the prospect has some special 
interest, such as club work, which may be the basis of a 
special sales appeal. Do not switch over to that appeal right 
away, otherwise it may seem to her that you are “trimming” 
your talk to influence her. Go on with your regular talk for 
a while; then swing over to your special talk just before 
closing. 


XVI. Impelling Action 


AVE you ever stood in front of a theater trying to 
H persuade a friend to go in with you and see the show? 
You knew she really wanted to go and that she 
hesitated only because she was a little tired or because she 
felt she ought to go home and write some letters, or for some 
other trivial reason. 

After you had used all the persuasion of which you were 
capable, you reached over and took her arm and started 
toward the entrance. She followed. You had won your 
point. 

That little touch on the arm, that start toward the entrance 
of the theater is what turned the scale in your favor. With- 
out them your friend would never have made that decision. 

Of course, the touch on the arm might not have been neces- 
sary. You might have accomplished the same result merely 
by saying, ‘Come on, let’s go!” The thing to bear in mind is 
that there came a time when you stopped all attempts to con- 
vince or persuade and impelled action. 

In every sales interview there comes a time when the salesman 
must stop his Demonstration and take some direct siep to impel 
the prospect to act. That step is called the Close. 


REASONS BEHIND THE CLOSE 


There is nothing that will help the beginner across the rough 
eround of apprenticeship so quickly as a clear understanding 
of the principles which govern the Close of a sale. Nor willa 
frequent review of these principles come amiss to many ex- 
perienced workers who may fall unconsciously into weak clos- 
ing habits, and who may on that account begin to wonder why 
their sales average is dwindling. 

Let’s illustrate the problem from life. Not long before this 
chapter of the sales manual was written, an exceptionally 
bright and intelligent young woman joined the Compton 
sales force. She was an experienced teacher of high standing. 
She had used C. P. E. in her school work and had seen a set 
in constant use in the home of some relatives. So great was 
her admiration for the work that she determined of her own 
accord to abandon teaching and join our field force. 

This young woman studied her sales talk faithfully, but 
when it came to the details of the Close she seemed puzzled. 
In the calls she made on prospects with her trainer, she would 


108 


Why Close is Necessary 109 
—_——_———————————_—_—_Y__aQOcOcOccoOo—————_____ 


give the Demonstration in an enthusiastic and convincing 
manner. But when she came to the Close, she would flatten 
out and ‘‘go dead” so to speak. 


Finally she voiced her troubles in about the following 
terms: 


“T can understand,” she said, ‘“‘the need for a good enthu- 
siastic Demonstration of the Service. And I can understand 
the need for special appeals to arouse the prospect’s interest 
and desire. But I can’t understand why—when all this has 
been done—we should at the end have to push the prospect 
into signing the contract. I would think that every mother 
would be eager to give her order when she sees what C. P. E. 
is like. It seems almost an insult to these wonderful books 
to have to drive people to buy them.” 


We may say, in passing, that when the psychology of the 
Close was explained to this young woman she saw the light 
and went out and took four orders in the next four days. 
But that first bewilderment over the necessity of the Close 
is one which is shared by virtually all beginners in all lines 
of salesmanship. 

2k * * 


Why is tt necessary to push people to do something which they 
already want to do and are convinced they should do? 


The Law of Human Inertia.—The answer to this ques- 
tion lies deep in human nature. We may call it the Law of 
Human Inertia, which is akin to the physical law of inertia 
and which can be stated as follows: 


All human beings tend to remain in a state of 


inaction, or to move only along the grooves of habit, 
until they are influenced by some OUTSIDE FORCE. 





In other words, their own reasonable convictions and de- 
sires are seldom sufficient. It takes an ‘‘outside force’’ to 
arouse people to action. It’s a sad thing, but it’s true. What 
a wonderful place the world would be if everybody always 
acted upon their convictions! But they don’t. They put 
things off. They let things go. 

Virtually every mother in America knows that her child 
needs good books for home use. And virtually every mother 
wants to give her child good books to use. If these mothers 
acted upon their convictions, they would go out of their own 
accord and examine all available books in search of the best. 


Making It Easy for Prospect 110 


Ne eee 
And is there any doubt that virtually all of them would end 
by buying the Compton Service? 

But, if all the mothers actually did that—if, indeed, any 
reasonable proportion of them did that—then we should not 
have to have constantly in the field groups of trained and 
intelligent representatives to carry the gospel of education 
into the homes. We would need only a gang of husky laborers 
to load books into railway cars, and the presses could not 
turn out sets of C. P. E. fast enough. 

And even after you have entered the homes and have car- 
ried the message to these mothers, the old law of inertia still 
continues to work. Unless you help them to overcome it, 
they will instinctively continue to put off final action. They 
will talk it over, consider it, plan for it, resolve about it, and 
end in doing—exactly nothing. 

Thus your message is wasted, and the children in those 
homes are deprived of the help they need. 

You must provide that ‘outside force’—that push which 
carries across the line dividing conviction from action. 


Main Principles of the Close.—Of course the prospect 
must want the Compton Service before she will yield to the 
push of the Close. To make her want that Service is the pur- 
pose of the main sales talk. But after that Desire has been 
created, the problem is to apply the closing pressure effec- 
tively. 9 

You cannot push the prospect across the line by arguing 
with her, for that will only increase her resistance. You can- 
not succeed by pleading with her or begging for the order— 
and you wouldn’t do it if you could. 

* * * 


What you have to do is to make it easier for her to go forward 
than to go back—easier to say ‘‘yes” than to say “‘no’’—easier 
to sign her name to the order than not to sign it. 


* * * 


That sums up the whole art and science of the Close. If 
you wait for the prospect to reach for the order book and the 
pencil, you will wait forever, because it is easier not to reach. 
If you wait for the prospect to say, “I will buy those books,” 
you will wait in vain, because it is easier to say nothing. 

But if, after you have laid your foundation properly, you 
place the order book before her and hold the pencil ready for 
her hand—then it is easier for her to sign than not to sign. 
Or if you offer her a choice of terms or a choice of bindings, 
it is easier for her to choose one than to explain to you why 
she doesn’t want any of them. ; 


Questions Pave the Way 111 


How to lay a proper foundation for the Close and how to 
build on that foundation will be the subject for the remainder 
of this chapter. 

CLOSING METHODS 


Preparing for the Close.—The good salesman prepares 
far in advance for the Close. Just as during the Demonstra- 
tion he is always clearing the road ahead of obstacles in order 
that the prospect can keep moving smoothly forward, so he 
takes care to build up behind him new obstacles which will 
make it impossible for the prospect to retreat over that road. 

This is very easy to do. The obstacles which bar the back- 
ward path are made up of the prospect’s own admissions, 
which she will have to contradict if she attempts a refusal at 
the Close. Watch your prospect carefully during the Demon- 
stration and you will usually find plenty of opportunities to 
get such admissions from her. 

A few simple questions are sufficient. You can start as far 
back as the Introduction with such questions as: “I know 
that like all other mothers, Mrs. Jones, you want to do all you 
can to help your children in their school work, don’t you?” 
The only reply the mother can make is ‘‘Yes,”’ and each time 
a prospect says ‘‘Yes’’ it becomes easier for her to say ‘Yes’ 
the next time and harder for her to say ‘‘No.” 

‘During the Demonstration you will be able to tell when the 
prospect’s Interest or Desire are particularly keen. Seize 
those moments to ask other questions, such as: “‘You can 
see how that will help Jack in his school work, can’t you?” or 
“Jack would be interested in that, wouldn’t he?” or ‘“‘Mothers 
need that kind of thing, don’t they?” 

In other words, have the prospect admit as far as you can 
the truth of every sales point you bring out. Have her admit 
that the Compton Service is wonderful, that it will help her 
and her children, and that she really needs that kind of help. 
Then it will be much easier for her to admit that the terms 
are easy and that she wants the Service. 

(We speak above of questions that will bring Yes-answers. 
Of course, there are No-answers that really express agree- 
ment and are therefore just as valuable. For instance, the 
question, “Did you ever see such wonderful pictures before?”’ 
will bring a No-answer. Yet this is a favorable admission. 
Many questions may take this form. The important thing 
is to obtain expressions of agreement, whatever form they 
take.) 

It seems hardly necessary to warn anyone against arguing 
with a prospect who is inconsistent enough at the Close to 


Don’t Wait Too Long! | 112 





go back on her previous admissions. You cannot get any- 
where by saying, “‘But you admitted a little while ago, Mrs. 
Brown, that you needed this Service, etc....”” Such tactics 
would only anger her. In most cases the force of those 
previous admissions will make itself felt unconsciously. If 
it doesn’t, you must let it go and try some other tactics. 


When to Close.—You may hear a good deal about the 
‘“nsychological moment” for closing a sale. Some people 
speak of it as though there were in every sales interview 
some one specific moment which you must seize or lose the 
sale. This notion comes down to us from the days when 
theorists tried to work out the laws of human psychology 
on a basis of mathematical certainty. Today most authori- 
ties are agreed that the idea of a “psychological moment” is 
largely nonsense. 

We take up this question here to make sure that you will 
not let this notion become a bugaboo in your work and cause 
you a lot of needless worry. Of course, there are moments in 
every sale which are more favorable than others for attempt- 
ing a Close. But to miss one of these moments does not mean 
that all is lost. 

The best maxim to follow is to try a first Close as soon as 
you feel you have created a reasonable amount of Desire in 
the prospect. With many prospects you can tell when this 
time has arrived by their looks and actions and bythe ques- 
tions they ask. If a prospect asks the price very early in the 
interview, it may only mean that she is wondering whether 
or not to consider the proposition at all. But if she asks the 
price after the Demonstration has been under way for some 
time, it is usually a definite sign of Desire, and you would 
better try your first Close then and there. 

Some prospects will not give any outward signs of Desire, 
no matter how keenly they may feel it. You will readily 
recognize such impassive people. Lacking clues from them, 
you will try your first Close as soon as you have reached that 
point in your Demonstration when you feel they ought to be 
ready for it. 

Don’t be afraid of trying to Close too soon. The mistake 
is usually made the other way. Salesmen often wait too long 
and wear out the prospect’s Interest and Desire. The princi- 
ple of the ‘“‘try-out’’ Close is well illustrated in John Alford’s 
Stevenson’s book on ‘“‘Constructive Salesmanship.”’ 

“Perhaps,” he says, ‘‘as a child, you have waited hungrily 
around the kitchen stove until the cakes were baked. You 
may remember seeing your mother draw the pans carefully 
from the oven ‘to see if the cakes were ready to take out.’ 


Let Third Close Decide It! 113 


EEE 
She stuck a straw in first the one, then the other. If the 
straw came out dry, the cakes were taken from the oven and 
your chances of getting a piece in the near future were pretty 
fair. But if the straw was sticky, the cakes were shoved 
back in the oven and your wait was somewhat prolonged. 
“A try-out Close is just that kind of atest. If your ‘feeler’ 
comes out with ‘half-baked’ doubts and objections sticking 
to it, the prospect is not ‘ready to be taken out.’ He needs 
to be put back in the oven of the sales talk where the heat of 
suggestion or persuasion can work on him a little longer.” 
Danger of Forcing the Issue.—If there is a doubt in your 
mind whether the prospect~is ready or not to make a final 
decision, don’t force the issue in your first attempt to Close. 


If you push too hard, you may drive the prospect into giving. 


you a definite “No,” which will make it easier for her to keep 
on saying “‘No”’ later. 

Few people like to say ‘‘No”’ at the end of a pleasant and 
interesting interview. But once they have steeled themselves 
up to the point of saying it—then it is not so hard for them 
to repeat it. As soon as a serious objection is offered on your 
first Close, run away from it and bring up your reserve talk 
as quickly as possible. 

Always Try at Least Three Closes.—Beginners lose many 
sales because they take the prospect’s first objections or ex- 
cuses too seriously. You should make it a rule never to leave 
a prospect to whom you have given a good complete Demon- 
stration until you have tried at least three Closes. 

If you have been careful not to force a definite and final 
refusal on your first attempt, you are actually in a more 
favorable position the second time to get the order. The 
question of price and terms is disposed of and explained, the 
choice of bindings is before the prospect—there is nothing 
to come between the Desire-creating force of your reserve 
talk and the actual moment of closing. This time, you can 
push harder than before. 

If your second Close should also prove unsuccessful, go 
back once more to your reserve material. Make it brief and 
come up with all the power at your command for the third 
Close. This time, do not be afraid of forcing a decision. 
Drive for it and drive hard. Meet any objection that may 
still arise squarely and fight it back—not by argument, but 
by definite answers, by sales stories, by letters, by any material 
you may have that fits the case. 

A word of warning. When we say not to drive too hard 
on the first two Closes, this does not mean that you should 
beat a retreat at the very first sign of hesitation on the 


* x, f ” 
ae 
dtp 


Prospects Like Firmness 114 





prospect’s part. You naturally want to get the order then 
and there if you can, and you will never know whether you 
can get the order unless you get as far at least as presenting 
the order book. If there is a serious objection in the prospect’s 
mind, this will bring it out. Let it come out. But do not 
keep on pushing, once that objection is stated, until you 
reach the third Close. 


The Prospect’s Attitude Toward the Close.—Beginners in - 
salesmansnip sometimes feel reluctant to push hard on the 
Close, imagining that prospects will resent it. This fear is 
entirely groundless. If you use ordinary tact and good man- 
ners, if you remain pleasant and dignified, you may push as 
hard as you please for an order without arousing resentment. 
Prospects will naturally object if you become combative, if 
you show resentment yourself, if you take their refusal as a 
personal affront, or if you try to beat them down by argu- 
ment. But cool determination and firmness will win you 
nothing but respect. 

The people you talk to realize that your business is to 
make sales and they will not blame you for doing every- 
thing in your power to succeed, so long as you do not become 
offensive. The average mother who has allowed you to give 
her a careful and interesting Demonstration of the Compton 
Service will feel that she owes you at least a good opportunity 
to present your closing appeals. 


* * * 


Indeed, most people are so constituted that they welcome 
firmness and decision and strength in matters of this kind. 
We have all come in contact with those weak-kneed store 
clerks who seem afraid to recommend one article over an- 
other, who, instead of helping us to make up our minds, 
confuse us with their own lack of suggestions or opinions. 
We grow impatient with such people and walk out. What a 
pleasant contrast is the real salesman behind the counter, 
who after presenting his goods to the best of his ability, says 
at last: ‘‘Here’s what I recommend. Let me send it out to 
you. I know you will like it,’ and who then proceeds to 
bring forward his order book as if the matter were settled. 
Usually, it 7s settled and we are glad of it. 


* co * 


The Prospect’s Weakness.—This brings us to the ques- 
tion of what it is that really closes most sales—even sales 
that are made to hard-headed business men. It is nothing 
but weakness, the prospect’s weakness. We repeat that, of 
course, the prospect must want more or less definitely the 


You Have the Advantage _ ‘° 115 


eee EEE ————EEESESESEE———~-—~=_—E__——E——=K={={_=[=={= 
article offered. But that alone is usually not enough to 
bring the order. The thing that turns the scale finally is the 
inability of the prospect to say ‘“‘No” to a good salesman’s 
Close. 


Every sales interview ends in a sale. Either the 
prospect sells you the idea that she doesn’t want 
your commodity or you sell her the idea that she 
does. 


In other words, it’s a contest of strength, in which most 
prospects—no matter how much they may want the Comp- 
ton Service—will try to put off and delay their decision and 
will endeavor to persuade you that you ought to let them put 
it off and delay it. It is your duty to them as well as to 
yourself to win that contest. 

You always have the advantage, if you only realize it. 
You have a definite and positive objective. The prospect’s 
objective is indefinite and negative. Her position is weak, 
and in her subconscious mind she knows that it is weak. 
If you have kept control of the interview throughout, if 
you do not waver when you come to the Close, but push 
firmly and with determination toward your objective—the 
prospect’s resistance is bound in a very large proportion of 
cases to crumble. 

And after it is all over and you have the order in your 
order book, you will notice a strange thing—a phenomenon 
that has often been observed by all experienced sales people. 
The prospect will give signs of real satisfaction and relief at 
having lost the contest—at having been forced across that 
last barrier that stood in the way of her true Desire. 

If there are beginners who are inclined to be skeptical 
about this aspect of the Close, we will ask them to take it on 
faith and to give it a real trial. They will soon convince 
themselves of the truth of this principle. 

NOTES ON THE CLOSE 

Tactics When Try-Out Close Fails.—The Standard Sales 
Talk not only gives standard closing methods but indicates 
how to get back into a reserve talk when a try-out Close 
fails. There is, however, one universal method for accom- 
plishing this which can be substituted very effectively with 
certain types of prospects. You will have to be the judge 
about when to use it. 

We did not include it in the Standard Talk because it 
calls for more practiced self-confidence than the beginner is 
likely to possess when first entering the field. Yet anyone 
can use it successfully after a little experience. 


A Very Effective Method 116 





In this method you virtually tell a prospect that af she does 
not want the Compton Service sufficiently to give her order right 
away, it is because you have not made the details of the Service 
sufficiently clear to her; that any mother who really understands 
what the Compton Service means to her will get it at once. 

In other words, you make her very objection or refusal the 
reason for going back into more Demonstration. The method 
is inescapable—bullet proof. The more excuses are offered, 
the more that proves she does not understand the real charac- 
ter of the Service. If she says she cannot afford it, then it’s 
because she does not appreciate fully what she is getting for 
her money or does not realize how easy are the terms. If 
she says she must consult her husband, then she does not 
grasp fully enough the reasons for the one-call method of 
selling and the reasons for calling directly on mothers. 


In any case, the reply to a refusal or an objection takes the 
following general form: 

“T see what you mean, Mrs. Brown, and I want to confess 
that I’ve been at fault. I know if I had really made the details 
of the Compton Service clear to you, you wouldn’t hesitate. 
Don’t misunderstand me, Mrs. Brown. I don’t blame you in 
the least. It’s my job to explain this thing to you so there won’t 
be a single doubt left in your mind. I don’t believe there’s a 
case on record where a mother really understood what the Comp- 
ton Service could do for her and her children that she didn’t 
want to get it. But I suppose sometimes my enthusiasm runs 
away with me and I skip over something important. Did I show 
UGVOUILS (loa ee 

If the same or another objection comes up after this, you 
can use the same method over again, saying something like 
the following: 

“T can’t understand what’s the matter with me today. I see 
I’m not presenting the idea of this Service as I should, for I 
know if I had made you realize what this means to you, Mrs. 
Brown, you wouldn’t let anything in the world stand in the way 
of your getting it.’”’ Then you can either show still more 
material from the prospectus, or show a letter or two from 
subscribers, or tell a little sales story that applies to the case. 


* * * 


When done in a natural and convincing manner, this 
method is remarkably effective. The prospect is not only 
impressed by your inability to understand her refusal, but 
she feels instinctively that there’s not much use in offering 
further excuses. She will then be inclined to surrender 
quickly. 


After Sale is Made 117 








Clinching the Sale.—Do not imagine that the sale is over 
the minute the order is signed and filled out. If you make a 
hasty departure at that point, you will be doing yourself and 
the prospect and the Compton Service a grave injustice. You 
should always clinch your sales with a little “service talk.” 
We include the subject here, because it is really a part of 
every successful Close, helping to confirm the prospect’s 
opinion and to make solid and permanent her feeling of satis- 
faction at having become a subscriber. 

Remember that the decision to purchase a thing so im- 
portant as the Compton Service is usually accompanied by a 
little excitement. Under the pressure of your Close, the 
prospect has been keyed up to a fairly high pitch. If you 
get up and run away immediately, there is danger that the 
subscriber will feel that all you cared about was the order 
and that, having got that, your interest in her has faded. 
The change will seem too sudden and she is likely to feel a 
let-down and a reaction, whereupon she will begin to question 
the wisdom of her decision. Left in that frame of mind, she 
may not be able to present the story of the Compton Service 
in the proper light to her husband. There may be a disagree- 
ment before the books can be delivered, resulting either in a 
refusal to accept them or in a reluctant acceptance which 
will give the Service a bad start in that home. 

All this can be avoided by a few additional minutes wisely 
invested after the order is signed. During this time you can 
show the subscriber additional material from the prospectus, 
explaining perhaps more fully the use of the Outlines or the 
Fact-Index; or you can review briefly the points you made 
in your talk, reading a letter or two to strengthen the pros- 
pect’s feeling of satisfaction and confidence in her own 
judgment. 

This period can also be profitably employed in getting 
from your new subscriber the names and information about 
friends and neighbors who might be interested in the Comp- 
ton Service. 

In brief, you should strive to make your departure from a 
home as smooth and friendly and pleasant as you try to 
make your entrance. And this applies, whether you have 
made a sale or not. 


XVII. Meeting Objections 


HE first thing to get firmly fixed in your mind about 

| Objections is that usually they are merely excuses. The 

Objection which is founded on fact and which consti- 

tutes a real obstacle to a sale is so rare that you might go a 
whole week in the field without meeting one. 

For purposes of discussion we can divide all Objections into 
three groups: (1) the really Valid Objections, like those just 
referred to, (2) the Temporary Objections, in which the pros- 
pect more or less sincerely believes, but which have no real 
foundation, and (8) the Excuses, which are not sincere but 
merely express unwillingness to buy. 


Valid Objections.—Extreme poverty, long-continued un- 
employment by the wage earners of the family, grave illness 
or other misfortune which is consuming the entire family 
income and savings, plans for the immediate removal of the 
family to a distant place—these are some of the things which 
may constitute valid objections. As we said, such conditions 
among the type of people that you call on are extremely rare. 
You will never be in doubt when you encounter them. The 
test is simple. If you were in business entirely for yourself, 
would you consider the sale a great risk? If so, then the 
Objection is valid. 

You can usually tell whether conditions are as painted by 
the amount of detail the prospect enters into in offering the 
Objection. If the story is vague, it is probably made up or 
exaggerated merely for the sake of an Excuse. We need not 
discuss Valid Objections any further, since they will not 
occur often enough to affect your sales average. 


Temporary Objections.—Ignorance, prejudice, misunder- 
standing, or lack of sufficient information about the Compton 
Service are usually responsible for Temporary Objections. 
While they are not founded on fact, the prospect believes in 
them to a certain extent and will continue to cling to them 
until you remove them. 

Such Objections arise from a great variety of causes. Per- 
haps the prospect has had an unfortunate experience with 
unscrupulous salesmen and is determined not to buy again 
without long and careful investigation. But in most cases 
they are due to a faulty Demonstration on your part. If you 
show high school material to the mother of very young 
children, you may lead her to believe that the books are ‘‘too 


118 


Everybody Makes Excuses 119 








old,” and vice versa. Or you may have blundered upon some 
religious prejudice. Maybe you did not emphasize enough 
the interesting features of the Service and left the prospect 
to believe that her children would not use the books. Perhaps 
you pitched your whole sales talk too far over the prospect’s 
head. Perhaps you did not bring out the “difference” of 
C. P. E., allowing her to think that she would be duplicating 
some set of books already in her library. 

You can usually tell such Temporary Objections from mere 
Excuses by the fact that the same one will be repeated again 
and again by the prospect until removed by you. They call 
for direct and sometimes drastic treatment, using definite 
answers, letters, stories, etc. 

Excuses.—We said tie interviews Here you meet with 
real reasons for not buying were rare. But they are not so 
rare as interviews which pass without one or more Excuses 
being offered by prospects. To make such Excuses is as 
natural to most people as breathing. 

In many cases they are a real credit to your skill. The 
sooner they begin and the greater their strength and variety— 
the more it shows that your sales talk is taking hold and that 
the prospect is trying to escape what she feels she ought to do. 
Beginners who have not learned the art of arousing Interest 
and Desire will sometimes report flat refusals or replies of 
“Not interested.’’ But this seldom happens to skilled workers. 
They hear, instead, ingenious and elaborate excuses, intended 
to put them off and gain time. 

Let’s consider as an example of Excuses one of the com- 
monest of all—‘I can’t afford it.”’ It is the easiest possible 
Objection to offer, because the prospect feels that it brings 
forward a personal question which you can’t possibly answer. 
How do you know whether she can afford it or not? She tells 
you she can’t and that ought to be the end of it. 

As a matter of fact, this Excuse is usually offered with a 
certain amount of sincerity. No woman ever gets so much 
money together at one time that she feels she can ‘‘afford” 
to spend it for things she does not really want. What the 
prospect means is that she has other things on which she 
proposes to spend her surplus funds—a new rug for the front 
hall, an ornamental lamp for the living room table, a fur coat, 
UG eee She is feeling the pull of your salesmanship 
drawing on her savings, so she tells you quickly that she 
cannot afford the Compton Service. 

If you let yourself be drawn into a discussion of whether 
she can afford it or not, you are lost. She has complete con- 
trol of that situation, and one of the greatest rules of sales- 


Answers Should Be Brief 120 





manship is never to enter into a situation of which the pros- 
pect has control. Let’s see what you should do. 

Ways of Meeting Objections.—No rigid and infallible 
rule can be laid down for handling Objections. But if you 
adopt the general policy laid down here, you will probably 
be on the right track in the great majority of cases. It applies 
not only to the “I-can’t-afford-it”” Objection but to all others. 

Do not answer the Objection at all the first time it occurs. 
Simply pretend that you did not hear it. If you think it is 
a very weak Excuse, you need not shift from your course at 
all, but go on as if it had never been made. If the prospect 
has put a good deal of emphasis behind the Objection, then 
shift back into your Demonstration and devote yourself to 
building up more Desire. 

The next time an Objection is made, if it is a different one 
from the first, you will know that the prospect is merely fish- 
ing around for Excuses and that your best plan is to switch 
the Objection off with very few words and to swing into a 
good strong Close. If the second Objection is the same as 
the first, you will do well to meet it more fully, using the 
special talks, letters, or sales stories. 

If on your third Close an Objection again rises, stick to your 
Close, increasing the direct pressure until you either force 
the prospect to abandon the Objection through the strength 
of your appeal or else bring out a definite and final negative 
decision from her. 

Keeping Up the Pressure.—Once you have started to 
apply the sales pressure that leads to a Close, you must never 
let up on it. If you are compelled to go back into more 
details of Demonstration be sure to keep your talk strong and 
full of Desire-creating points. Never let the interview relax 
or fall back into mere Interest again. If you do—if you let 
the prospect feel that the pressure has been removed—the 
battle is lost. She will meet your next attempt to renew the 
pressure with added confidence of driving you back once more. 

For this reason you should keep all reserve talks and an- 
swers to Objections as brief as possible, and the new Close 
should always be directly linked to them. Make your answer 
or your reserve talk simply a new pathway to another Close. 

The attempt to Close after an Objection must always be 
stronger than the first attempt, otherwise you will leave the 
impression that you are weakening. 

In a sense the whole interview from the time you begin 
driving for the order becomes a battle—a test of strength 
in which you are fighting, not against the prospect herself, 
but against the instinct of resistance and inertia which takes 


The Value of Good Stories 121 


possession of nearly all people when an unexpected question 
of spending money arises. If you are going to win, you must 
see to it that you fight harder than that spirit of inertia can 
fight back. 

USING SALES STORIES 


Good sales stories are powerful weapons. Skillfully used, 
they can often do more to bring orders than any amount of 
additional demonstration or direct appeals. Beginners should 
never feel that they are doing their own ability full justice 
until they have mastered the art of using such stories in a 
natural and timely fashion. 

It is not a difficult art to acquire. It consists merely of 
putting into story form the sales motives and appeals dis- 
cussed in Chapter XV. A story may consist of an anecdote 
about another prospect or subscriber; it may be a quotation 
from some well-known writer or speaker; or it may be any 
little tale which, like the parables of the Bible, illustrates such 
things as devotion, sacrifice, the value of knowledge, or any 
other human quality you want to emphasize. 

The power of such stories to move prospects lies in the fact 
that they come as indirect suggestions, with far more weight 
than any direct advice or appeal from you can possibly carry. 
As we pointed out on page 104, you can suggest things to the 
prospect through stories that would be resented or would fall 
flat if you did not clothe them in that form. 

One of the strongest human impulses is the instinct of 
imitation. The best stories of all are those showing how other 
prospects have surmounted difficulties and objections to get 
the Compton Service. A good collection of stories, therefore, 
will include at least one for every Objection you are likely to 
encounter. 


' When to Use Stories.—Stories are used oftenest to fore- 
stall Objections or to meet them after they have actually 
arisen. That is why we discuss them in this chapter. But 
they can and should be used as part of the Demonstration 
whenever possible, showing how the Service has actually been 
used by others and how its various features have aroused 
enthusiasm. Even in the Introduction certain types of stories 
have proved exceedingly useful. 

People like to hear little human narratives about what their 
neighbors have said and done. You can always count on a 
good story to arouse new Interest. Beginners sometimes say 
that they found no opportunity to tell their stories. That’s 
because they worry too much about the logical connection of 
the story with the rest of their sales talk. You shouldn’t let 


Make Stories Lifelike 122 





this bother you, for the average person is not much concerned 
with tracing logical connections. It’s true that a story gains 
force if it comes in naturally, instead of having the appear- 
ance of being dragged in by the ears. But that’s more a 
matter of your manner in telling it than of logic. You can 
always create the opportunity by a few introductory words, 
such as, “That reminds me, etc... .” or “In that connec- 
tion, let me tell you. . . .” By the time your little story is 


half told, the prospect will have forgotten all about what that’ 


“connection” was. 


Collecting Sales Stories.—The best stories are those you 
gather yourself in the course of your daily work. These you 
can tell with the most conviction and put into them the 
most life-like spirit. There is value, furthermore, in being 
able to give exact facts and details—names, place, date, etc. 
For this purpose you should enter in your notebook any little 
incidents that strike you as specially dramatic or appealing. 

Lacking stories out of your own experience, you should 
borrow those of others, adapting them to your use, being 
careful always to stick to the substance of the truth. An 
invented story, for some reason, can seldom be made so per- 
suasive as a true one, even if you are willing to use it. 

Whatever the source of your story, it is best in every case 
to write it out in suitable form before attempting to use it. 
You cannot trust yourself on the spur of the moment to 
put your facts together in the most effective way, unless you 
have rehearsed them a little in advance. 


SOME TYPICAL STORIES 


For the sake of illustrating the kind of material that can 
be made into sales stories, we give you here a few examples, 
together with suggestions for their use. They were all sent 
in by field workers and have all been used with success. Of 
the many that are constantly submitted, we have selected 
those that seem the simplest and most general in their appli- 
cation. Except for leaving out names and dates and places, 
we are printing them in virtually the same form as submitted. 

Since good sales stories usually contain more than one 
kind of appeal and are suitable for more than one kind of 
objection, we found it best not to classify them in any way. 
You will find it wortk,your while to read through them all 
very carefully. 

Books Beat Furniture.—I was calling on a mother the other 
day, Mrs. Brown, and she felt at first that she had so many other 


things to buy that she could not afford the Compton Service Just 
then. But in the end she said to me: ‘“‘I am afraid I’ve been thinking 


2 


ad 
- 


Some Appeals to Pride | 123 
Sooo OOOO" 
a little too much about myself. I’ve been planning to get some new 
furniture for the living ,room, and I have been hating to spend even 
a nickel that I could save for that. But when I see what these books 
will mean to my children—well, the furniture doesn’t seem so im- 
portant, somehow.’’ And she seemed so happy, Mrs. Brown, after 
she had made that decision. (Appeals to pride and fear of being thought 
selfish; meets ‘‘can’t-afford-it’’ objection and overcomes tendency to delay.) 


She Knew Her Mother Didn’t Know.—A young mother told 
me this story about herself. She was sitting in the window doing 
some fancy work. Her little daughter, Mabel, and a playmate were 
playing in the garden, when she overheard the following conversa- 
tion: 

‘‘Oh, Mabel, look at this flower I found. I wonder what it’s called. 
Let’s go and ask your mother.’’ 

““Oh, mother wouldn’t know.’’ 

““Wouldn’t she? Well, let’s go over and ask my mother. If she 
doesn’t know, she’ll look in a book and tell us.”’ 

That conversation was such a blow to her pride, the young mother 
said, that she decided then and there that she would never say ‘‘I 
don’t know”’ to her little girl again, if she could possibly help it, as 
long as she lived. 

(This story appeals to Bites and suggests the usefulness of the Service in 
answering questions.) 


How Her Husband Helped.—lI called at a home recently where 
I was surprised to find a fine library, although the other furnishings 
of the house seemed scanty. When I expressed my admiration for 
the wonderful collection of books, the mother explained that it was 
her ‘‘smoke library.’’ 

‘“‘When my children were babies,’’ she said, ‘‘I bought a set of 
books because I thought they would help me to be a better mother 
and to give them a firm foundation and a good start. My husband 
objected a little at first, but finally we came to the agreement that I 
should be allowed to use the same a mount of money for books to 
comfort the children and myself as he used for smoke for his comfort. 
That library expresses the sum total of his smoking for the last six 
years.’ 

(This type of story makes an excellent reply to the husband objection, appeal- 
ing also to the mother’s pride and spirit of independence.) 


She Waited Until It Was Too Late.—Last week I was talking 
to the mother of two boys, one fifteen and one twenty. The older 
one was still in the senior year of high school and the younger one was 
still in the eighth grade. She said to me, ‘‘Miss Smith, I can’t get 
them interested and they don’t seem to care to read.’’ So I said, 
‘“‘Well, that certainly is too bad. What kind of reading have you put 
before them, Mrs. White?’’ And she said with tears in her eyes, 
“Oh, I know I haven’t been a good mother. I never gave them any 
books when they were younger. But I didn’t realize what it meant 
to them until it was too late.”’ 

There was nothing I could say, Mrs. Brown, to console that poor 
mother who had failed in her mother-job: But I went away with a 
firm resolution to do my utmost to spread this message to other 
mothers, before it was too late. 

I just thought what a contrast to that mother was the one I met 
the very next day in that same neighborhood. She had three little 
ones under school age, and though she had, from all appearances, 


Stories to Fight Delay 124 
—eoos 
very little of this world’s goods, she realized she had no right to deny 
her children their chance, for she said: ‘‘Miss Smith, I know that the 
kind of men and women my children become depends upon what I 
do for them now.’’ 

(This is a very strong appeal to caution and pride and overcomes the ‘“‘I- 
can’t-afford-it’’ and the delay objections.) 


Advice From a Great Banker.—George M.Reynolds is president 
of the Continental and Commercial Bank of Chicago, one of the 
largest financial institutions in the world. He is considered a business 
genius whose opinions carry unusual weight among the big men of 
the country. Here’s what he has to say, Mrs. Brown, about success: 

“A man to make money must think for himself. Fortunes are 
built on deals that are largely the impulse of the moment. Those who 
take questions to bed with them are not the ones who are making the 
most money. Courage is as much a necessity to the man or woman 
who would build a fortune as it is to the soldier on the battlefield. I 
believe the biggest things in business are always done on the impulse 
of the moment. I have always made that my rule. I cannot, as I 
look back, recall a single instance where I have thought long over a 
successful business operation.”’ 

(This quotation is valuable in cases where prospects want to delay and think 
over your proposition.) 


No One Can Take a Mother’s Place.— As one mother said to 
me: “If I weren’t here, somebody else could do the dusting and 
cleaning and cooking and sewing for the house. But I feel as if no- 
body in the whole world—no matter how wise or experienced they 
were—could train and teach my children the way I can.’’ And isn’t 
that true of all mothers, Mrs. Brown? Their mother instinct tells 
them what their children need. But, as this same mother said when 
she ordered the Compton Service, ‘‘I want to be sure that I can 
always give them what I know they need. I feel that if I give it to 
them myself, it will mean more to them.” And that’s what counts, 
Mrs. Brown—it’s your influence back of this Service. (Appeals to 
pride and overcomes the objection that the school is already doing all that is 
necessary.) 


Pay in Money or in Sorrow.— As one mother put it: ‘‘I know we 
need this Service, and I’ve often noticed that we always pay for a 
thing we need, whether we buy it or not. I can pay for these books 
in a short time in dollars and cents, or I can be paying for them for 
years in the mistake of not having for my children what other moth- 
ers have for theirs.’’ And she was right in choosing the shorter way, 
don't you think so, Mrs. Brown? (Appeals to caution, and helps to over- 
come delay and price objection.) | 


Superior Mothers Make Superior Children.—I taught school 
for years, Mrs. Brown, but I have learned more from mothers during 
the past year about the real causes back of the wonderful educational 
triumphs of the present day than from all my experience as a teacher. 

Just the other day a mother took me back into her den and showed 
me an old couch with a book case standing at the head of it. On the 
top shelf was a much-worn set of children’s boo ks. ‘‘When my seven- 
year old boy was two,”’ she said, ‘‘I bought him those books and 
placed them just where they stand today. My most familiar memory 
of him as a little boy is a picture of him lying on that couch on his 
stomach looking at the pictures. I have done more reading in ans- 


The Judge’s Quick Reply 125 








wering his questions about those pictures than for everything else 
combined since I was married. 

-“Last fall he started to school, and the first thing he did was to 
make two grades with flying colors. His teacher said he had de- 
veloped such wonderful mental alertness that all she had to do was to 
let him learn.”’ 

That mother was so delighted with the Compton plan she said she 
could hardly wait to get the new books into the shelves by the 
couch. She said, ‘‘I feel I am going to have a hard time keeping ahead 
of my boy.”’ 

Mothers like that are the ones that are responsible for the big 
forward steps in education, Mrs. Brown. A doctor said to me re- 
cently, ‘‘People will tell you that this is the age of superior children. 
But it is really the age of superior mothers.’’ And every day I 
realize more and more how true that is, when I see how eager mothers 
are to give their children the very best advantages and the very best 
start in life. 

(This appeals to pride and the spirit of rivalry and imitation. It can be used 
with all types of prospects, but particularly tt helps to ward off the objection 
that children are too young.) 


What Is Your Child Worth?—I heard Judge Lindsey, the fam- 
ous Juvenile Court jucge, say in an address at the opening of the 
Junior Y. M. C. A. at Washington: ‘‘Ladies and Gentlemen, this 
building cost $500,000—and if it saves one boy from ruin and dis- 
grace, it is worth every cent that it cost.’’ 

After the meeting a great many of the prominent men and women 
of Washington were going up to shake hands with the speaker. One 
old fellow said to him, ‘‘Judge, you put a big price on one boy.”’ 

‘““My son would be worth more,’’ replied the judge. ‘‘I don’t know 
about yours.”’ 

(This ts a fine reply to the price objection, making a strong double appeal to 
pride and cautton.) 


A Mother Needs Training for Her Job.—I called one day on a 
mother who had just a little baby and I didn’t know whether she 
would be interested in books or not. In talking with her, I found she 
had been a teacher, and she explained her interest in this way: ‘‘It’s 
surprising how quickly things slip away from you. Now I feel as if I 
were getting really rusty just in the few years I’ve been out of school 
work. But you needn’t think for one moment that I don’t consider 
it just as important to train myself to teach my little girl, as it was to 
train myself to teach other people’s children.’’ (This story appeals to 
pride, reaches the educated mother, and overcomes the objection that child ts too 
young.) 


A Help for the Brightest Children.—I was calling on Mrs. 
White the other day and she told me that it was a very inconvenient 
time for her to get the Compton Service. So I said to her: ‘‘Mrs. 
White, this help will enable your little daughter to lead her class and 
the pleasure and pride you take in that will far outweigh the incon- 
venience of taking this now.’’ 

Mrs. White answered quickly, ‘‘But she does lead her classes 
already. She’s been a leader all through grammar school.’’ 

I replied to her, ‘‘That’s splendid! I know just how proud you feel, 
Mrs. White. But have you stopped to think that, in high school, 
Lillian will bein class with the leaders of eight other grammar schools? 
Some of those leaders are going to have this help, which will give 


Story of a Good Sport 126 
=——Se ESSE 
them a decided advantage over those who do not. You don’t want 
to run any risk, Mrs. White. You want to give Lillian at least an 
equal advantage with the other leaders, don’t you?”’ 

Then, Mrs, Brown, that mother saw that the real leaders are always 
those. who are not content to ‘‘stay put’’ but who keep on training 
themselves for bigger and better things all the time. No one can 
afford to stand still these days and say what was good enough in the 
past is good enough for the future, can they, Mrs. Brown? 

(This type of story appeals to the pride of leadership and overcomes the ob- 
jections of self-satisfied prospects.) 


Everyone Borrowed His Books.— A disabled soldier, an archi- 
tect, came in to our branch office the other day to make a payment 
on his books. He said they had been burned, and when I started to 
express regrets— Well, here’s the story in his own words: 

“‘Oh, just the covers are burned. The reading is all there. But now, 
perhaps, they won’t be so attractive and everyone will not be bor- 
rowing them all the time. I wanted to use them myself the other 
night, and there was only one volume left on the shelf. The maid 
said that friends had borrowed the others, saying that I was a ‘good 
sport’ and would be glad to lend them. ‘Well, I’m a good sport,’ I 
said, ‘but those people can get those books just as easily as I got my 
set.’ I went out looking for them and I found four volumes in one 
home where a high school girl was preparing a thesis.”’ 

Then this father, who is a widower, gave us the names of his bor- 
rowing friends and asked us to see to it that every One of those fami- 
lies got a set of Compton’s. And most of them have already sub- 
scribed. 

(This story proves the universal usefulness of the Service and appeals to the 
prospect's pride in owning her own books—books that everyone will want to 
borrow.) 


The Desire for Knowledge.—A famous school superintendent 
once said: ‘‘When we arouse in a child the desire to know, it is better 
that giving him a university education.’’ And that’s true, isn’t it, 
Mrs. Brown? Without the first, the latter means nothing; but with 
the first, he finds the way to get the other. (Good general appeal for 
Introduction or Demonstration; can be used also as an appeal to caution at the 
Close.) 


No Time Like the Present.—Mrs. Brown, we always feel that 
the present is the time of greatest distress for our pocketbook. Let 
me read you a little quotation: 

“It is human nature to regard the present as the worst of times, 
and to have glowing hopes for the future, financially or otherwise. 
Yet many parents of small children, who console themselves with the 
thought that things will be better later on, cannot build much on the 
testimony of parents of older children, who, no matter what their 
age, declare there never was a time when they were the care they 
are now, and they remember with regret the days when the children 
were younger, for they did not have so many needs.”’ 

(This can be copied out and put in your prospectus to be used in overcoming 
delay. It should be followed by appropriate comments applying to the pros- 
pect’s own case.) 


Who Is the Boss?—The story goes that a man went around to 
homes to find out whether the husband or the wife was boss. Where 
the wife ruled, he gave a chicken; where the husband ruled, a horse. 


a4 


A Powerful Heart Appeal 127 





When he had given away a large number of chickens (and no horses), 
he finally reached one home where the wife admitted her husband 
was master of the house. Back in the garden the husband made the 
same claim: ‘‘Yes, that’s true, I’m boss here.’’ 

“All right, then, come out to the gate and pick our your horse. I’m 
giving a horse to every man who is boss of the family. Which will you 
take—the white one or the black one?’’ 

‘“*The white one, I think—but just wait a minute.’’ And he disap- 
peared into the house. 

Emerging a minute later, he said: ‘‘No, I’d rather have the black 
one.”’ 

‘“‘No, you don’t, you get a chicken.”’ 

That’s the way most fathers decide things. 

(This type of humorous appeal will often prove useful with certain prospects 
who can be reached in no other way. This story appeals to pride and overcomes 
the husband objection.) 


She Had Learned Her Lesson.—In a little town near Lexington 
I called on a family that seemed so poor I thought I would go away 
without showing this wonderful work, which I felt they could not 
afford. But the mother insisted on looking at it, and her two boys, 
9 and 11, said to her: ‘‘Mother, if you will only take it, we can pay 
for it out of our milk money.’’ I found out they kept a cow and the 
boys sold the milk. 

The mother didn’t say a word, but went out and got the picture of 
a little girl and handed it to me. ‘‘That’s the picture of the girl we 
lost two years ago,’’ she said. ‘‘She was a wonderful student. She 
started taking domestic science and several times came home asking 
for material to work with, but I kept putting it off and didn’t get it 
for her. One day she asked me to visit her school and the children 
were all showing the many different things they had made. I asked 
Mary where her things were and she said, ‘I haven’t had the materials 
to work with, mother, so I couldn’t make what the rest of the girls 
have.’ 

“It’s too late to help her now, but I never again want one of my 
children to say that they could not do the things that were asked of 
them because they did not have the materials to work with. We 
have got to afford it, for we can’t afford not to give them their chance.”’ 

And that little mother, Mrs. Brown, insisted on taking the Comp- 
ton Service and, what’s more, she and those two boys have paid for 
it every month right on time. She had the right spirit, don’t you 
think so? 

(A very powerful heart appeal of the type to be used with prospects that are 
tnclined to be selfish or flighty.) 


The Mother’s Education.—Henry Clay said: ‘‘A wise mother 
and good books enabled me to succeed in life.’”’ You know, Mrs. 
Brown, I feel that back of every great man and every great woman 
there was a wonderful mother—one who had ambitions and ideals 
and backbone to see that her child became something worth while. I 
don’t have the least bit of patience with anyone who says: ‘‘It’s no 
use to educate a girl; she'll only get married anyway.’’ Why, there’s 
no one on earth needs a broader, finer education than a mother. As 
one little mother put it recently: ‘‘You educate a father, and you 
have just one educated man. But you educate a mother, and you 
have an educated family.’’ And how true that is, isn’t it, Mrs. 
Brown? (This type of story not only appeals to pride, but helpsto ward off the hus- 
band objection.) 


Husband Answers Objection 128 
> >>>>>>I>Ih __==S=Ssapmsesasasae——————— 

, The Cost of Delay.—I have a friend, Mrs. Brown, who lived for 
years so near Niagara Falls that she could make the round trip for 
one dollar. Other people came thousands of miles to see them. But 
she never got around to it. There was always some little thing inter- 
fering. She toid me she planned the trip to the Fallsa dozen times a 
year, but somehow it was always delayed. Then she moved to Kan- 
sas, and when people there heard where she came from, they would 
always say, ‘‘You can tell us about Niagara Falls. It must have been 
wonderful to live near them and to be able to see them whenever you 
wanted to.’’ She finally became so ashamed of explaining that she 
had never seen that marvelous sight, that she took a vacation one 
summer and spent nearly $150 to make the trip back to her old home 
and see the Falls. 

And that’s almost always the way, isn’t it, Mrs. Brown? When we 
put off doing the easy thing now, we usually find that we have to do 
that very same thing later on, when it isn’t easy any more. Making 
up for lost time and lost opportunities is always expensive, don’t you 
think so? 

(Thts is a very good answer to prospects who admit the value of the Service, 
but who want to delay action.) 


Paying for the Service, Not the Books.—One mother said to 
me not long ago: ‘If I thought I was getting just a set of books to 
put on my shelves—just a lot of articles and pictures—I wouldn’t 
want it at all. What I’m paying for is the good my children are going 
to get out of these books by using them.’’ And that’s the way we 
want all our subscribers to feel—that they are getting a real, every- 
day Service, like the telephone or the gas or the electric light and 
other things that you pay for by the month. We want you to feel 
that you are paying for that Service, not the books. Then after you 
have paid for a few months, you get the Service free forever after- 
ward. That’s the right way to think of it, don’t you think so, Mrs. 
Brown? (This emphasizes usefulness and meets the instalment objection.) 


It’s the Mother’s Business to Decide.—A mother I called on 
last week wanted the Service very much, but she was afraid to get it 
without consulting her husband. She asked me to call on him, and 
since his office was on my way home, I decided to make an exception 
in her case. He was a very busy man and I had to wait an hour to 
see him. Then, after listening to me a few minutes, he said: 

“‘Miss Smith, I am sorry that I have not more time to give to this 
matter. From what you have said, I understand it is something that 
will help the children in their school work. Now if a man comes to 
me and tells me he has something to help me produce more business 
with less effort and in less time, I would bea fool if I didn’t get it. 
My competitor next door might not be such a fool and then I would 
lose out. We are moving along fast these days, and the fellow that 
isn’t keeping up to date in his methods is soon left behind. 

“‘Now the raising and educating of our children is my wife’s busi- 
ness and she has the same right to get the things to help her in her 
work that I do in mine. Go and see her again and tell her if she 
wants this Service to get it. She is the only one who can decide. If I 
tried to buy things for her to use at home, it would be just as unwise 
as if she tried to buy things for my office.’’ 

Then, Mrs. Brown, I replied to him that his wife said it was his 
money she was spending and that was why she wanted him to decide. 

“Of course, it’s my money,” he answered, ‘‘if you want to look atit 
that way. Butit’s her money, too. If I have a partner in my business 


Wisdom from a Little Girl 129 








and he has charge of certain departments of the work, I don’t expect 
him to consult me every time he spends money to improve his de- 
partments. That’s what a partner is for—to take responsibility and 
make decisions.”’ 

And don’t you think, Mrs. Brown, that a wife should have at least 
the same rights and responsibilities as a business partner? 

(This is a strong reply to the husband objection, as tt sums up almost all the 
reasons why a mother should decide.) 


Not a Sacrifice, But a Pleasure.—I know, Mrs. Brown, that the 
things we want to do sometimes seem difficult in advance. But let 
me tell you a little story: 

A little Scandinavian girl came trudging along a hot dusty road 
carrying her brother, who was almost as large as she was. A neighbor 
met them and told the girl to put the boy down and make him walk 
—that he was too heavy for her to carry. The little girl looked at the 
man very earnestly and replied: ‘‘He is not too heavy, sir, for he is 
my brother.”’ 

Where love and confidence that we are doing the right thing is our 
guide, the heaviest load is made easy. When we know and feel that 
the Compton Service fills a real need in our homes, the saving for it 
is not a sacrifice, but a pleasure. Don’t you think so, Mrs. Brown? 

(This type of heart appeal is very effective, when prospects allow the thought 
of money to stand between them and their duty to their children.) 


Teaching Children to Use Money Wisely.—As a banker’s 
wife told me one day: ‘‘Of course, I could easily pay cash, but my 
husband says, ‘Lots of people know how to save money, but mighty 
few know how to invest it wisely.’ So I get a good set of books once 
in a while and have the children invest their little savings that way, 
for I want them to learn to use their money wisely while they are 
still young—when the strongest habits are formed.’’ That’s a fine 
way of looking at this plan, don’t you think so, Mrs. Brown? (This 
appeals to the mother’s desire to train her children properly and meets the 
objection to the instalment plan.) 


For Your Personal Notes 130 


Sales Notes and Stories 


We are leaving a few pages blank at this point, so 
that you can write in or paste in copies or clippings of 
any specially good stories, poems, or quotations you 
desire to keep permanently. Here is a little poem 
(author unknown) to start your collection: 


LOOKING AHEAD 








some day the world will need a man 
Of courage in a time of doubt, 

And somewhere, as a little boy, 
That future hero plays about. 

Within some humble home, no doubt, 
That instrument of greater things 

Now climbs upon his father's knee, 
Or to his mother's garment clings. 

And when shall come the time for him 
To render service that is fine, 

He that shall do God's mission then 
May be your little boy or mine. 


some day the world will need a man! 

I-stand beside his cot at night, 
And wonder if I'm teaching him 

The best I can, to know the right. 
I'm the mother of a boy— 

His life is mine to mold or mar. 
And he no better can become 

Than what my daily teachings are. 
There will be need for someone great—— 

I dare not falter from the line— 
The man who is to serve the world 

May be that little boy of mine. 


A Place for Your Sales Stories 131 





Fill These Pages Yourself 132 


A Place for Your Best Notes 





Put Something Good Here 134 


The 
BUSINESS BUILDER 





od 





PART THREE 


The Salesman 


Page 
XVIII. Personal Qualities. ..137 


XIX. Manners and Habits .146 
XX. Work and Success....151 


Appendix—Business Notes. . . 157 





XVIII. Personal Qualities 


N THE preceding chapters of this book we have tried to 
emphasize particularly the impersonal side of Compton 
Service salesmanship—the machinery and tools of your 

work, the outside conditions you have to contend with and 
the more or less standardized methods of meeting those 
conditions. 

Now the time has come to consider the personal side of 
your work and the individual qualities which YOU bring to 
bear upon it. After all is said and done, you are the most 
important element in the whole enterprise. Your success will 
depend far more upon your own morale than upon any 
methods you employ. If your morale is right, method and 
system and experience will make you a star. But if your 
morale is wrong, the most perfect sales technique in the 
world will do you little good. 

Mind you, we are not talking about any natural or inborn 
qualities over which individuals have little or no control. We 
- propose to discuss only those qualities which anyone can 
acquire and develop. 


SELF-CONFIDENCE 


You believe in your own ability, don’t you? The reason 
you have gone into salesmanship is because you know that 
the routine jobs of the world cannot pay you what you are 
worth. Isn’t that so? You have set out to get the “better 
things”’ of life to which your superior energy, intelligence and 
enterprise entitle you. 

In other words, you have plenty of self-confidence. But 
do you make it work for you? Or do you keep it a secret that 
you cuddle to yourself as a sort of private consolation for 
your little failures? Do you say to yourself, “I CAN’? Or 
do you say to yourself, ‘I could, if I wanted to.” 

There is all the difference in the world between the two 
attitudes. The earth is full of people who nurse notions of 
their own superior ability, but who seldom or never put it 
to the test of action. They ‘‘could” do anything, but they 
“can” do nothing, because they won’t try. 

That kind of vague self-confidence won’t help you in 
salesmanship. What you want is self-confidence founded on 
facts. It must be the kind that no failure can weaken, because 
the facts are there to back you up. 





137 


Reasons for Confidence 138 





Building Self-Confidence.—What are the facts you have 
to build on? First, comes the proposition you are selling—the 
Compton Service. You must know, so that the knowledge 
becomes a real part of you, that the Compton Service is the 
very best educational tool for home use that is made. If you 
know of a better one, then you are doing yourself an injustice 
to sell this one, for you can never have the full confidence you 
need. But we don’t believe that question will bother you. 
What we have told you in this manual about the way the 
Service was made and what you have seen with your own 
eyes ought to be enough to settle that point forever. What 
you are selling is the very best in its field. That’s step number 
one in building your self-confidence. 

Second, you know that it can be sold successfully. You 
know this because you see others around you, who have not 
a bit more ability than you have, making fine records week 
in and week out. If they can do it, you can. 

Third, you are prepared to sell the Compton Service. You 
have at your command all the material you need to succeed. 
Every obstacle that you can possibly encounter has been en- 
countered and disposed of thousands of times before by the 
use of that material. All you have to do is to master that 
material until you know that no prospect can possibly stump 
you with questions or objections. Perfection may not come 
right away, but at least you know that you are in a position 
to control absolutely this part of your work. You build your 
self-confidence by study and personal preparation. 

Fourth, you do not allow temporary failures or slumps to 
affect you in any way. In fact, you don’t think of them at all. 
except to ask yourself how to surmount them the next time. 
Instead of allowing failure to tear you down, you build on it. 
You are surer after making a mistake than you were before, 
because you know that there is at least one mistake you will 
never make again. 
~ Using Self-Confidence.—When you go up to a prospect’s 
door, just wipe out of your mind all thoughts that end with a 
question mark. Don’t wonder whether you are going to get 
in. Make up your mind, instead, whether you are going to 
sell that prospect a Full-Leather binding, a King Francis, or 
a Buckram. Don’t worry about what the prospect is going 
to do. Have a clear and definite idea of exactly what you are 
going to do—and do it, no matter what happens! 

Cultivate decision of manner and assurance in action. You 
may say that you haven’t these traits naturally. That isn’t 
true. You showed plenty of decision when you determined 
to come into this work, and you had ample assurance in 


Don’t Fear Mistakes 139 








action when you actually did come into it. You mean, 
perhaps, that you don’t show your decision and assurance on 
the outside. Well, that’s easy to cultivate. 

You know the difference that comes into your voice when 
you are speaking positively, instead of in an inquiring manner. 
You know that in the former case, your voice falls at the end 
of the sentence, while in the latter it rises. You can say, ‘I 
am Miss Smith,” so that it means, “You know who I am.’ 
or you can say it so that it means, “Perhaps you don’t know 
who I am.”’ Well, in your opening remarks to prospects, you 
should always use the positive tone. 

You can step forward toward a prospect as if you expected 
the door to be closed in your face. Or you can step forward, 
knowing that the door is going to open wider to receive you. 
If you do the latter, there is no woman alive could close that 
door. It couldn’t possibly enter anyone’s head to do it. 

Do not think, however, that self-confidence expresses itself 
by a hard-set jaw or a combative manner. Those are usually 
devices of weaklings to screw up their courage and make a 
“front.” Let your manner be as easy and natural as you 
please, but avoid the faintest trace of hesitation or uncer- 
tainty in speech or action. 

Beginners sometimes try to figure out in advance the easiest 
house to approach in a block. They wander around uncer- 
tainly, anxiously looking at the faces of the dwellings, as if 
they expected to see expressions of friendliness or hostility. 
If anyone appears at a window, they will press on, trying to 
pretend they have business elsewhere. That’s a fine way to 
cripple confidence entirely. 

Don’t look for soft spots. Pick out the biggest, most 
imposing, most unfriendly-looking house in sight. Walk up 
to the door with a smile on your face and a spring in your 
step. If you see anyone at a window, motion to them that 
you want to talk to them. Give the bell a good ring. Be 
impatient to get inside and start your Demonstration. If you 
do things of that kind, you will find your self-confidence 
welling up inside you, and you will know that nothing can 
check you. 

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Everybody makes 
them. A great financier once said: ‘‘All I ask and hope for is 
to be right fifty-one percent of the time. If I can succeed in 
that, ’ll make millions!”” And he did. The worst part of 
mistakes is their power to discourage you—to rob you of self- 
confidence. If you don’t let them do that, the mistakes you 
make will never hurt you. 

As a final suggestion for cultivating self-confidence, study 


Sell Yourself First 140 


carefully and digest what J. R. Hamilton has to say about 
“The Salesman’s Point of View,” beginning on page 48 of 
this manual. 


EARNESTNESS AND ENTHUSIASM 


Why did that prospect turn you down yesterday morning? 
You had a good long interview with her. You showed her 
every attractive point you could think of about the Compton 
Service. You met her objections. She seemed willing enough 
to listen to everything you said. But in the end she put you 
off. Why was it? 

This may be your answer. Because she could tell by the 
look in your eye that you half expected her to do so. You 
didn’t impress her, because you weren’t impressed yourself. 
And she knew it. You couldn’t fool her. She didn’t feel any 
sparks of enthusiasm jumping the space from your mind to 
hers. She needed a live wire to arouse her desire, and you 
were trying to magnetize her with words of wood. 

You made a good enough sales talk, yes—but there wasn’t 
any conviction back of it. It takes earnestness, enthusiasm, 
warm human personality to get orders. You have been 
turning your work into routine—letting the life and energy 
go out of it. 

Here’s the thing for you to do. Don’t try to make any 
more sales to others, until you attend to your own case. Take 
tomorrow off, if you have to. Go into a corner somewhere 
and SELL YOURSELF a subscription to the Compton Serv- 
ice. Think over its value; realize it; burn it into your mind. 
Enumerate its fine qualities; get a living vital appreciation 
of each one. Consider what the Service will do for a mother, 
the help it will be, the good it bring. Sweep out of your 
mind, like so many cobwebs, any apologetic feeling regarding 
_ It. You are not trying to persuade that mother to waste 
money. You are not trying to trick or cajole her into doing 
something she can’t afford to do. You are selling her some- 
thing that she needs, at a fair price, on the easiest of terms. 
You are doing her a far greater service than you are asking 
in return, and you must make her see this. 

Say these things over to yourself. Think them in your 
heart; realize them—they are all true. Light the flame of 
your enthusiasm and fan it into a good brisk blaze. Then, 
when you have sold yourself—when you believe once more 
in your own proposition heart and soul—go out and tackle 
the next prospect. Tell her what you’ve got in you. 

You’re in earnest this time. She’ll know it. There will be 
an atmosphere about you that will carry respect. She’ll 


Stand On Your Own Feet 141 


listen to you eagerly. She’ll know that this isn’t ‘‘the same 
old thing she has heard before.’”’ She’ll know that the Comp- 
ton Service isn’t something to trifle with. She’ll know that 
you aren’t to be put off. You'll get the order. 

Enthusiasm isn’t a matter of excited talk and sensational 
gestures. It isn’t a surface quality at all. It’s a question of 
your own deep feelings. If these are kept alive and active, 
you won’t have any trouble communicating enthusiasm to 
others. 

Enthusiasm and earnestness are the best cures for self- 
consciousness. They give you natural eloquence, firing your 
imagination and developing new ideas and appeals on the 
spur of the moment. Don’t let them burn low. 


INITIATIVE 


How many new ideas does your brain-factory turn out in 
the course of a week? Do you think about your work? Are 
you constantly trying to improve it by looking for new 
methods and appeals, by developing the strong points to the 
utmost and strengthening the weak places? Or do you keep 
the factory closed down most of the time, content to be a 
mere retailer of second-hand ideas? 

The salesman who doesn’t inject new thought into his work 
at frequent intervals grows dull and stale. The moss of old 
habits blocks the door-step of enterprise. The rust of routine 
clogs the machinery. Interest slackens, enthusiasm burns 
out. Discouragement settles down like a pall. Failure waits 
around the corner. 

It’s so easy to avoid all that—so easy to keep the fires 
burning and the wheels humming—if you will just give your 
brain the chance it craves. Don’t lean on others. Don’t take 
it for granted that sales methods have been settled once and 
for all. Take everything good that comes your way. But 
don’t be afraid to criticize or to try to improve the established 
order. Stand on your own feet. Have confidence in your own 
ideas; develop them; put them into practice. For you, at 
least, those ideas are probably better than any you could get 
second-hand. 

Initiative does not mean closing your mind to outside sug- 
gestions. To believe in your own power to solve your own 
problems does not imply refusing outside help. But the very 
best suggestion that ever comes to you can probably be im- 
proved for your use, if you will study it over and work with 
it, and adapt it to yourself. 

The best friend of initiative is a good notebook. Carry one 
with you wherever you go, for you never know where or 


Value of ‘‘Resistance’’ 142 








when an idea is going to crop up. Magazines, books and 
plays will give you sales suggestions and quotations. You 
can study sales methods and appeals on shopping expeditions 
and get ideas from newspaper advertisements and billboards. 

While it is not wise to let your mind dwell too much on 
your work during hours of leisure, some thoughts are bound 
to come to you at such times. Jot them down, develop them, 
and use them. 


COURAGE AND DETERMINATION 


If there were no such things as obstacles, there would be 
no such thing as salesmanship. But don’t think of them as 
obstacles which block your path. Think of them as so much 
‘resistance’ which gives your power a chance to show itself. 
If it weren’t for the resistance of the water, a propeller 
couldn’t drive a ship. It would whirl around idly. If it 
weren’t for the resistance of the air, an airplane couldn’t rise 
from the ground. And if it weren’t for the resistance of the 
road, an automobile couldn’t move out of its tracks. You 
have all seen the wheels of a motor car spin helplessly on an 
icy surface. That kind of a surface is fine going for a sled— 
down hill. All you have to do is to let go and slide. But 
there’s no way of sliding up hill. You need power plus re- 
sistance to get to the top. 

Sometimes the “resistance” may seem greater than the 
power. You come to halt. The little devils of weakness begin 
to whisper to you, “‘What’s the use? Is the game worth the 
effort? Why not go back into some snug sure resting place, 
where there’s no fighting or struggling where everything is 
settled once and for all, and each day is like the next?” 

When those “blue days” come, you need courage and 
determination. Those days come to every one who has 
ambition and enterprise enough to get out on the highway of 
life and travel with the leaders. The plodders are never 
bothered that way. It’s the people with imagination and 
vision, who can see the goal far ahead and are impatient of 
setbacks and delays—those are the people who are tormented 
from time to time by discouraging thoughts. The greater 
your ability, the more you will tend to chafe when circum- 
stances seem to halt your progress. So don’t take those 
moments too seriously. They’re symptoms of a fine ambition. 

‘Just bring up the old courage and put it to work. Put the 
shoulder of determination to the wheel and keep pushing. 
You may not seem to move for a while, but keep pushing 
anyhow. Before you know it, the wheels will start rolling 
forward again, and you will be speeding along once more in 


Pd 
- 


Don’t Complain; It’s Fatal! 143. 


the old way. No, not the old way—faster than ever, because 
the accumulated power of that extra effort is behind you this 
time. 

Some sales people, when they hit a slump, stop pushing 
entirely. They quit cold and sit around gloomily waiting for 
someone else to come along and pull them out of the hole. 
Every time they let that happen, it makes the slump come 
more easily the next time. Soon their whole career is one 
long slump. But the people with true courage and determin- 
ation don’t let bad luck or fate or circumstance dictate to 
them and tell them when to work or when to quit. They stay 
in command, no matter what happens. When orders seem to 
come hard, they go after them hard. If their average seems 
to be falling, they work longer and see more people and make 
more sales talks. 

One of the worst enemies of courage and determination is 
the habit of complaining about your troubles. You can take 
a little bit of a temporary slump and talk it into a great big 
permanent failure, if you don’t watch yourself. We know of 
a case that illustrates this in a surprising way. A few years 
ago a certain young woman joined our sales force, who had 
unusual ability and enterprise, coupled with a most pleasing 
personality. Within a year, she was one of the ten best 
workers in the organization. Perhaps her success went to her 
head. She was not satisfied with being considered a leader. 
She wanted to make her record appear even more marvelous 
than it really was. So she began, not more than half seriously, 
to tell about the tremendous difficulties she encountered. It 
seemed that her territory was always the worst in the country, 
the climate where she worked was always bad, the prevailing 
nationalities in her region were peculiarly stubborn and ig- 
norant types. She would recount endless tales of hard luck 
of every conceivable kind. Of robust health, she complained 
of being half-sick most of the time. 

All this was done, as we said, more or less in jest, to make 
her fine record seem finer. But before long, the jest became a 
habit. She began to believe in her own complaints. Soon she 
fell behind the leaders. Step by step, she dropped on the list. 
Inside of a year, she was at the foot of the whole organization. 
Then she dropped out completely and went back to teaching 
in a small country school. She claimed she hadn’t been given 
the same chance that others got. She blamed it on bad luck. 
But it was nothing but ‘‘bad talk.” She had talked herself 
into failure. 

If you run into difficulty, don’t gossip about it. If you feel 
you need help, talk it over seriously with your manager or 


A Lesson from a Cork 144 





someone else who is in a position to help you. But don’t get 
into the habit of kicking and complaining. It will wreck your 
morale and sap your courage quicker than anything else. 


CHEERFULNESS 


There’s nothing like making people glad to see you. And 
good healthy cheerfulness will do that quicker than anything 
else. The books on salesmanship tell you that, if you can 
show a man how to make money, you'll always be welcome. 
But you’ll be doubly welcome if you can show him how to 
change a frown into a smile. Above everything else, people 
enjoy feeling happy. And you can’t buy smiles with money. 

So few people in this world have enough cheering power to 
keep the corners of their own lives brightly lighted. How 
they welcome those who have cheerfulness to spare—who can 
bring them an atmosphere of light and sunshine, who can 
open the dusty windows of their being and let in a light fresh 
breeze! 

“Invest a smile—and get an order.” That sales maxim’ 
used to sound somewhat cold-blooded and commercial, as if 
you were expected to turn on grins, at so much a grin. But 
then we remembered that a real smile can’t be “turned on” 
to order. It must come from the heart. It stands for the 
genuine cheer that you bring the prospect as a free gift, over 
and above the valuable thing you sell her. 

There is no formula we know of for cheerfulness. The only 
instructions are, ‘‘Be cheerful!’ Smooth out the frowns, lift 
the corners of your mouth, cultivate tolerance and courtesy 
and a good natured manner. Think of the pleasant things that 
have past and the many more pleasant things that are to 
come. Don’t let the petty discomforts of life, the small 
annoyances, disturb you. Let them roll off you; laugh at 
them. Hum a snatch of music, whistle softly a bright tune 
as you go up to ring a doorbell. You’ll be surprised how few 
real grouches you meet. 

And, what’s more, you'll be surprised how much less tired 
you'll feel when you get through your day’s work. 


PERSEVERANCE 


Take a small cork and float it in a bowl of water. Push it 
down with your finger. You can hardly feel the upward 
pressure of that cork, as it tries to get back to the surface, 
can you? Now put that cork in the bottom of a big barrel, 
and fill the barrel above it with heavy tar. Then wait and 
see what happens? It may take a month or two, but sooner 
or later that cork, by its tiny but steady upward pressure, 
will force its way through the heavy tar and come out on top. 


Keep Up Steady Pressure © 145 





With a big sledge hammer, you couldn’t drive an iron bar 
through that solid mass. But the steadfast, continuous, un- 
ending push of the little cork does the trick without any 
commotion or disturbance. 

Perseverance is like the upward pressure of that cork. If 
you keep on pushing day in and day out, never letting up, 
you can get through anything in the world and come out 
on top. 

.The extra burst of speed in emergencies, the special en- 
thusiasm you throw into sales contests are wonderfully 
effective, provided they come on top of a steady, persistent, 
daily push. But the people never get very far who, in order 
to do their ordinary work, have to be keyed up to a high 
pitch of excitement. It never lasts. Excited efforts wear out 
the nerves. There comes an inevitable reaction and weariness 
when little or no work is done at all. t 

There is another danger—that you will come to rely on 
those sudden spurts of work to make up for lost time. You 
will count on them to pull you out of holes, and, counting on 
them, it will be easier for you to let yourself fall behind. The 
sad thing, if you do that, is that you never catch up. You 
think you are going to, but you don’t. There is always an 
excuse for putting off the spurt a littlelonger. You wait until 
things become almost hopeless and desperate. And you enter 
the battle with fear of the huge task before you. The result 
is, you fail. You become discouraged and discontented. You 
begin to look at the work as hopeless drudgery. Finally, you 
quit. You’re beaten—not by the work as it really is, but by 
the desperate struggle you made of it. 

Take your work easily. Lay your plans far ahead, counting 
each day and each week as equal periods of production. 
Establish for yourself a steady average and quota, and ever- 
lastingly stick to it. Make this regular quota high enough to 
meet all your needs and tastes. Then the surplus you can 
pile up during special drives and contests is sheer profit and 
gain. That’s the way to daily satisfaction and happiness, as 
well as to future prosperity. 

Remember, steady daily pressure will overcome any 
difficulty. Form that habit, and YOU ABSOLUTELY 
CANNOT FAIL. 


XIX. Manners and Habits 


UTSIDERS sometimes appear to believe that good 
QO manners and good salesmanship can’t get along to- 

gether. They imagine that success in the field of selling 
requires a demeanor that is either brash and brazen or some- 
what cringing and servile. We could well afford to smile at 
such ridiculous notions, did not some faint echoes of them 
occasionally reach beginners in our work and cause them to 
wonder whether they should not attempt to make over their 
manners a little to suit their new profession. 

Set such notions at rest once and for all. Good manners 
are based on unselfishness, a respect for the rights of others, 
and a desire not to offend the sensibilities of the people we 
come in contact with. These are considerations that are not 
altered by any change in business or profession. The same 
standards apply in salesmanship as in social life. We treat 
prospects as equals, giving them the same courtesy we would 
extend to any other strangers we are meeting for the first 
time, and we expect the same courtesy in return. 

You will encounter rude people everywhere. Your present 
occupation is no exception. Usually rudeness springs from 
ignorance. The best way to meet is to disregard it—not to 
allow it to affect your own behavior in the slightest degree. 
Self-respect certainly forbids giving rudeness back. An easy 
and tolerant attitude will usually disarm the most crabbed 
person. 

But this is not intended to be a lecture on etiquette. We 
want only to call attention to certain points that are ex- 
ceptionally important in our work because of their influence 
on prospects. 


The Value of Dignity.—Nothing commands respect like 
a dignified bearing. Not the stiff and formal kind that freezes 
people and drives them into their shells, but the quiet self- 
confident dignity that tells people at once that you consider 
your visit a matter of importance and that you expect them 
to consider it in the same light. 

Friendliness of manner and warm human cheerfulness are 
wonderful assets. But be sure that they don’t grow into 
familiarity. We have known sales people who were such 
good fellows that they became almost like one of the family 
inside of a few minutes. But that kind of thing usually 
proves a boomerang. Prospects get to feel that they know 


146 





Keep Sales Material Neat 147 


you so well before the interview is over that they can turn you 
down easily. You’re such a good fellow, they think, that you 
won’t mind it. 


Personal Appearance.—Your personal appearance is your 
first message to the prospect. Let it be as favorable as pos- 
sible. In other walks of life, you might be more free to follow 
entirely the dictates of your own taste as far as clothes are 
concerned. But in salesmanship you have to think of the 
impression you are going to create on a wide variety of people. 

Trim, well-groomed conservativeness should be the keynote 
of your attire. A tendency toward brilliant colors and unusual 
styles, which might be otherwise entirely becoming to you as 
an individual, is likely to work against you in the minds of 
some people. The same is true of wearing any obviously 
costly jewelry. It may create an impression of over-prosperity. 

On the other hand, do not run to the other extreme. The 
dowdiest person in the world likes to see others neat and well- 
tailored. With the large amount of walking you have to do, 
you will have to be particularly careful about the appearance 
of your shoes. For some reason or other, people always notice 
visitors’ feet. 


Your Sales Equipment.—Next to your personal appear- 
ance, prospects pay most attention to the appearance of your 
sales material. Keep it as neat and orderly as possible. Don’t 
allow your prospectus to become dog-eared or soiled. Carry 
only what you actually need in your everyday work. Don’t 
accumulate among your sales material a lot of loose papers, 
clippings, old note books, or other things that not only make 
your bag seem messy but also make the really useful things 
harder to find and use. 


Living Conditions.--Extravagance is to be _ strictly 
avoided. Living up your income, so that you have no savings 
to show for your work, is a thankless habit, which sooner or 
later brings discontent and the feeling that you are getting 
nowhere. On the other hand, economy that is too rigid will 
“cramp your style,” to use a slang expression, and make you 
just as dissatisfied as extravagance. While it is admirable to 
think of the future, we must not forget that today is as much 
a part of our life as tomorrow and that we owe ourselves 
comfort and happiness as we go along. 

Set your standards of living as high as you wisely can. It 
is good business, as well as being far more pleasant. You will 
have occasion sometimes to tell prospects where you live. It 
helps to be known as living in a good neighborhood. Most 
important of all, however, is the effect of your living condi- 


Some Habits That Pay 148 








tions on yourself. To get up in the morning amid pleasant 
and comfortable surroundings gives you a fine feeling of 
power and dignity and independence, which you will never 
get in dingy quarters. To live in an atmosphere of prosperity 
tends to bring prosperity. You expect more from your work 
and you get more. 


SOME RULES OF HEALTH 


Good health is absolutely essential to long-continued 
success in salesmanship. More talented salespeople are de- 
feated through ill health than through any other cause. Yet 
this need never happen to you if you have a good average 
constitution to start with. The work itself is healthful—far 
more so than office or school work. It gets you out of doors 
and gives you plenty of exercise. By observing a few simple 
rules, you can actually increase your health and strength as 
you go on with your work. 

Diet.—Improper eating habits will do you more injury in 
the long run than any other abuse you could fall into. They 
are responsible for two-thirds of all the ailments that beset 
modern people. If that seems an exaggeration, it is because 
the troubles due to improper eating come on slowly and it 
takes a long course of reform to drive them away again. 
Don’t make the mistake of thinking yourself immune from 
this rule. Those who are most robust to start with are usually 
those who suffer most in the end. Many a weakling has lived 
to a fine old age through being forced early in life to discipline 
his diet. 

First, eat regularly. Don’t let other tasks or pleasures, 
advance or retard your meal times. Second, take your time 
about it. Better to forego a meal entirely than to take it 
“on the run.”? You should be relaxed at the table and should 
chew your food well. Third, eat plenty of good simple food, 
avoiding highly seasoned dishes, fried things, heavy cakes 
and pastries. Concentrate on warm cereals, good soups, eggs, 
roast meats, plain vegetables, and fruits. Excess coffee or tea 
will produce a “fake” feeling of renewed energy but you pay 
for it in greater fatigue later on. 

To people of impatient or nervous temperaments, such 
rules may seem annoying. But those are the persons who 
need them most. Make no mistake, they will pay you in 
increased energy, endurance, and general efficiency. 

Sleep.—Get eight hours sleep every night without fail. 
You will find persons who will tell you how well they get 
along on five or six hours. They are fooling nobody except 
themselves. You can keep yourself keyed up by excitement, 


When You Play, Play Hard! 149 





by drinking coffee, by abnormal mental activity of all kinds 
so that it will seem to you that you can thrive on little sleep. 
But you are simply running on your “nerves.” It will get 
you in the end, just as sure as there are laws of physiology. 

Plenty of sleep means a rested body and a clear brain. You 
will think faster, make better sales talks, have the surplus 
energy you need for good hard driving closes, and be able to 
bring in late in the afternoon that extra order that helps to 
build up your record. 

Amusement.—To keep healthy and happy, you must 
know how to relax, how to play, how to amuse yourself. And 
when you do play, play hard—throw yourself into it with all 
the enthusiasm you can. When the time comes for amuse- 
ment, forget all about your work, dismiss your worries, live 
in the present. 

To allow yourself to become bored with life is to bring on 
nervousness, restlessness, and dissatisfaction with everything 
you do. Many persons get bored because they try to get 
amusement too frequently and in small doses. Don’t expect 
that every day will bring you some unusual pleasure. Be 
content with week-day routine. But try to plan something 
you can really enjoy for your week-end—trips, theater parties, 
dances, visits to the houses of friends, etc. You will do far 
better work as a result. 

Don’t talk “shop” too much with your fellow workers out- 
side of working hours or sales meetings. If things are not 
going just right for you, don’t waste time in idle worry over 
it. If you can do something or plan something definite to 
overcome your difficulties, well and good. That’s constructive 
thinking. But nobody, since the world began, ever worried 
himself out of trouble. 

Other Health Notes.—Imaginary diseases and ailments 
can do more harm than real ones, because you never get over 
them. If you observe the ordinary precautions outlined above 
for keeping your health, you need not give the matter any 
further thought. Above all things, avoid as you would the 
plague all patent medicines and tonics and bilge of that 
character, whether recommended in advertisements or by 
well-meaning friends. If you are leading a regular life, and 
still do not feel well, don’t try to nurse yourself along. Go to 
a competent physician for a thorough examination. 

Have your teeth examined at least once a year. An aching 
tooth may get well by itself, but the pain is a sign that it 
needs attention. It may spread infection if you let it go. 

Eye strain is often a hidden cause of headaches and ner- 
vousness. While it is doubtless true that many people wear 





Take Care of Your Eyes 150 


glasses who do not really need them, a little help now may 
save you a great deal of trouble later. If you have reason to 
believe your eyes are out of condition, go.to an oculist, not an 
optician, and have him examine them. Opticians will almost 
always recommend glasses, while there is a growing tendency 
among oculists to do without them whenever possible. 


XX. Work and Success 


HE truest sales maxim that was ever printed isthis: ‘‘If 

you want to get the orders, see the people!’ At any 

given time in your development as asalesman, thenum- 
ber of orders you take and consequently the profits you make 
depend directly upon the number of people you call on. 

That’s a rule you can’t get around. It’s a mathematical 
certainty based on the law of averages. Out of every hundred 
sales talks you make, you will get a certain number of orders. 
That number is fixed by your ability, and the average won’t 
change except as your ability changes. That’s the law of 
averages and it applies to everybody. 

Now the number of sales talks you make depends, of course, 
on the number of people you call on. It is evident, therefore, 
that you can increase your orders by the simple process of 
increasing your calls. The only limit on your weekly produc- 
tion, then, is the number of calls you can make during the 
week. 

In other words, the whole question is one of WORK. The 
harder you work, the more you profit. Simple, isn’t it? You’re 
probably wondering what sense there is in wasting good 
paper and ink to tell you such a self-evident truth. 

Here’s the reason—and it’s a vitally important one. As 
you go along with your work, studying and gaining experi- 
ence, your sales ability will naturally grow. It’s bound to. 
It can’t help growing. Gradually your average will rise. You 
will begin to get more and more orders out of every hundred 
sales talks you make. Now there are two ways of looking at 
that increased sales ability. You can say to yourself, ‘‘J¢ 
means less work for me,” or you can say to yourself, ‘‘Jt means 
more orders.” 


Which Path Will You Choose? 


The attitude you take on this question will do more toward 
shaping your future than any other single thing. Are you 
going to treat your ability as a couch upon which you can lie 
down by the side of the road to rest? Or are you going to treat 
it as a fine machine upon which you can ride swiftly and surely 
to great success? 

In every great sales organization—and ours is no exception 
—you will find both kinds of people. Some regard their 
ability merely as a means for cutting down the amount of 
work they have to do. The more proficient they become, the 

151 


Have You Ambition? 152 


fewer hours they work. They decide how much they need for 
bare expenses of living, and they work until they earn that 
amount, and then quit. They are easily satisfied. 

» The others take exactly the opposite view. They treat their 
ability as a means of earning more money. They decide, not 
how little they can live on, but how much work they can do, 
day in and day out. The more proficient these workers be- 
come, the bigger their profits. They may not spend any more 
than the members of the first group, but they are constantly 
piling up a surplus, saving lots of money, getting somewhere. 
They are not easily satisfied. They have ambition. 


Are You Easily Satisfied?—With fairly good skill in 
salesmanship, you can make reasonable living expenses sell- 
ing the Compton Service by working only two hours a day 
That is to say, you can pay yourself a-salary about equal to 
that of the average office girl. 

Perhaps there are people who are satisfied with the results 
of two hours’ work a day. At least they may think they are 
satisfied, because no one can really be satisfied with slacking. 
But to reach the point where they even think so is a long step 
toward becoming finished, through, done! 

Satisfaction means the end of struggle—the beginning of 
decay. Satisfied people grow sluggish of mind and body. 
You may mistake satisfaction for happiness. But true happi- 
ness comes only with winning something; satisfactionmeans 
that you have lost something—your goals, your ideals, your 
dreams. A step toward those dreams, no matter how small, 
brings happiness. But only by stifling the dreams can satis- 
faction come. 

When you admit you're satisfied, you mean that you’re 
defeated, you’ve quit, you’ve pulled down your flag! 

It’s sad enough to watch the inevitable failure of the help- 
less and the unfit. But the wasting failure of those who have 
ability is infinitely worse. A race horse pulling a peddler’s 
wagon; a fine locomotive rusting in a junk yard; a great ship 
built to sail the seven seas rotting on the beach—if such 
things don’t give you a pang, then nature has left something 
out of your make-up. 

~But you are not made that way. Nobody in the entire 
organization is made that way, deep down inside. You’ve all 
proved it. You have real ambition. You showed it when you 
joined this organization. You broke away from the treadmill 
of routine and took the first step toward independence. Did 
you want independence just to waste it? No! You learned the 
art of salesmanship and passed your apprenticeship. Then is 
when you would have quit, if you had the quitting streak in 


Pd 
- 


The Measure of Success 153 








you. But, no, you went on and showed you had it in you to 
make good. 

The Road to Independence.—Suppose you can live on 
$30 a week. Do you want to keep that up for the rest of your 
life? That $30 a week ties you down to the job just as much 
as $100 would. You can’t do anything else worth while. Why 
not jump in, while you’re at it, put every last bit of your 
energy to work, and make the $100? Then you can put $70 
of it away. Do you know what that will amount to in five 
years? Over $18,000. That means real independence. The 
House of Compton won’t try to stop you from quitting, if 
you quit that way. 

Money isn’t the only thing to work for. But it’s the most 
accurate and practical measure of worth that the world offers 
today. You judge other people to a great extent by their 
earning capacity and that’s the way other people will judge 
you. 

A scientist may sacrifice his hope of wealth to pursue 
knowledge in a laboratory; and, working there, he may win 
glory. An artist may starve his way to fame, painting pic- 
tures in a garret. But we who have chosen salesmanship—if 
we do not make money, we acknowledge failure in every 
department of our work. We may take pride in the fact that 
our work is not mere money-grubbing, that we are devoting 
ourselves to a priceless service—spreading educaticn, helping 
children along the road to success and happiness. Do you 
want to know how you're succeeding in that part of your 
work? Do you want to know how many children are happier 
and better on your account? Just take a look at your weekly 
pay check. The answer is written there in cold figures. 

The next time you feel like taking a day off or like coming 
in from the field after two or three hours’ work, stop and 
weigh the costs and the profits. On one side is yourself, your 
company, and the children who are to a certain extent in 
your charge. On the other side is—what? A few hours of 
loafing in your room, a trifling bit of shopping, an idle bout 
of gossip with some acquaintance, a cheap movie—what is it 
that tempts you away? 

Surely, if you weigh these things one against the other, there 
will be no doubt what you will do. 

The Habit of Good Hard Work.—It might be easy to 
compose words of high inspiration on the subject of work and 
success. It might be possible to arouse the fire of your en- 
thusiasm to the point where you would rush out tomorrow 
and work as you have never worked before. But we don’t 
want this manual to do that. Inspiration wears off; enthu- 


A Habit, Not a Hardship 154 


siasm of that kind burns out. In the long run, cool and settled 
convictions and habits are the only things that will do you or 
the company much good. 

That’s why we talk about the habit of hard work. It has 
to be a habit or it will become a hardship. If you let yourself 
get out of that habit for a period of time, you will have trou- 
ble getting back again into the race. 

If an automobile skids off the smooth hard road into the 
mud and you allow it to stop and settle down and get stuck 
good and hard, you will have to use more power and effort to 
get back across the few short feet that separate it from the 
highway than would be consumed in driving many miles. 
You will have to hook on to that car with a team of horses, 
perhaps, to get it out. And you won’t accomplish it by a 
sudden violent jerk; you will have to apply a long steady pull. 

In the same way, if you let yourself slide off the road of 
regular work, if you allow yourself a period of loafing, you 
cannot expect to rush out the following week and bring in a 
lot of orders. Your work will lack quality and consistency. 
Your mind will be taken up with planning and executing the 
new program. Your will power will be mostly devoted to 
keeping yourself at it and to resisting the temptation to re- 
lapse into your old ways. 

It is only when you begin to take hard work as a matter of 
course, only when it becomes a regular habit, that your ener- 
gies of mind and will can be perfectly free to apply themselves 
directly to the prospect. 

Furthermore, once the habit of work is formed, the hard- 
ship disappears entirely. You don’t think of it. You don’t 
worry about it. It becomes as natural and easy as breathing. 
It’s only when you have to hold a debate with yourself on 
every street corner, trying to decide whether to go on or to 
quit for the day, that you are conscious of a struggle. If you 
KNOW that you are going to work until evening, in spite of 
anything that may come up, then there’s no debate, no 
struggle, no hardship. All you think about is making as many 
good strong sales talks as you can during the time you have 
left. 





You Are Your Own Boss 


A salesman’s job on a commission basis is the only job in 
the world where the person holding it is sure of getting ex- 
actly what he really earns. If you have exceptional ability 
and work on a salary, you can usually be sure that you are 
being paid less than you are worth. Why is that so? Because 
in fixing salaries, employers cannot count on exceptional 


The Greatest of Games 155 





ability in advance. They have to figure what the average 
person would be worth in your job, and that’s what you get. 
If you want more, you have to prove you are worth it for a 
considerable period of time before you will get it. And no 
employer will give you back-pay for the exceptional work you 
did during the proving process. In other words, you have to 
earn more for some time before you actually get more. 

In commission selling, however, you automatically raise 
your own salary as fast as you increase your worth. You are, 
in every important sense of the word, your own boss. Be- 
cause your earnings are based entirely on results, you are left 
virtually free to run your own business as you see fit. This 
means independence in judgment and action. 

But you must remember that with this independence goes 
a strong dose of responsibility—responsibility to yourself. 
Do you want that independence enough to shoulder the re- 
sponsibility; or would you really be more contented if you 
had someone to do most of your thinking and planning for 
you? There are people—good useful people—who can only 
work satisfactorily when they are carrying out the plans of 
others. They do not enjoy deciding important questions for 
themselves; they cannot work consistently at self-appointed 
tasks, though they may display the utmost energy and en- 
thusiasm in carrying out enterprises directed by others. 

If, after an honest and careful study of your own disposi- 
tion, you find that you belong to this class, you should aban- 
don salesmanship, for you are wasting your time in a calling 
where so much depends upon individual enterprise. 

But we don’t believe that you will find that weakness in 
your make-up. We believe that every Compton Service 
worker who is given a chance to read this sales manual has 
the qualities of real leadership—executive ability and the 
spirit of true independence. We know that you did not lightly 
decide to take the first great step that separates the plodders 
from the leaders of this world, and that, having taken that 
step, you will not let any small and trivial things turn you 
aside from the path of success. 


Playing the Game 


After all, salesmanship is a game—the keenest, most excit- 
ing of all games. It’s the great game of human nature, in 
which you pit your wits against the other person’s, using 
every fine quality you possess of will and judgment, intellect 
and emotion. 

We were speaking of work a while ago. But we don’t 
believe that any really successful salesperson ever thinks of it 


There is No Loser! 156 


as work while it is going on. Of course we like to sit around 
after the game and grumble a little about the difficulties of the 
play, just as football players grumble between times about the 
hard labor of the gridiron. But let the coach try to take 
one of those players out and put in a substitute. See what 
happens then! 

It gets into your blood—this game of salesmanship. The 
longer you play it, the more zest it brings. The old timers— 
those who have made enough money to retire—can’t seem to 
break away from its fascination. Year after year they go on 
—pretending to be merely coldblooded business people, pre- 
tending to be dissatisfied with their achievements, but really 
held by the lure of the game—the game which has kept them 
young and vigorous, with a smile on their lips and a sparkle in 
their eyes. For there is nothing, after all, like the human 
contacts of salesmanship for keeping people from growing 
narrow, and crabbed, and old. 

Ask those old-timers to tell you the real truth about their 
love of the game. They will tell you what every salesman finds 
out sooner or later—that there’s no joy to compare with the 
joy of getting a new name on the dotted line. It’s a joy that 
never loses its keen thrill. It’s a victory that can never grow 
stale—a victory unlike any other in the world, for there’s no 
bitterness on the loser’s side. In this game, when you win, 
THERE IS NO LOSER. 











APPENDIX 
— BUSINESS NOTES — 


HE business system and policy of F. E. Compton & Company 

is the result of hundreds of experiments and experience cov- 
ering many years of work in our particular branch in the pub- 
lishing business. We handle every year a great many thousands 
of subscription accounts, and each of these is necessarily an 
independent affair which must be recorded with rigid accuracy 
to avoid confusion in our bookkeeping system, as well as to give 
the subscriber satisfactory treatment. A certain part of the suc- 
cess of this system depends upon you. What we have said in 
previous chapters of this manual covers, of course, the most 
important part of your work—the making of sales—but the 
“paper work” that you do, such as filling out contracts, making 
weekly reports, etc., is something which, with a little care, can 
be disposed of easily but in which mistakes, however slight, often 
entail tremendous difficulties not only for the Company but 
for you. By observing the few simple instructions we give here 
you will be able to avoid all confusion. 


Your Working Agreement with the Company.—The Memo- 
randum of Working Arrangements which each beginner accepts 
and signs before going to work in the field, covers specifically 
the main points of our plan. Study it over carefully and famil- 
ilarize yourself with all its contents. It has been made as brief 
as possible. There is nothing in it which is not important. 


Daily Reports.—Your manager will provide you with Daily 
Report blanks. You will fill these out carefully in every detail 
according to his instructions and see to it that they are sent to 
him regularly. It is only by means of such information as these 
Daily Reports call for that your manager can give you the 
benefit of his help and advice in your work. Be sure, therefore, 
to make the information in your blank accurate and complete. 


Weekly Sales Reports.—At the end of each week you will 
make out a Weekly Sales Report to be submitted to your man- 
ager. On one side of this report you are required to list the num- 
ber of hours worked each day, the number of sales talks made, 
and the number of orders taken for C.P.E. Here, too, you give 
the name of the place where your work was done, together with 
your address and name. The orders for C.P.N. are also listed on 
this side of the report. On the opposite side you put your name, 
the date of the report and your manager’s name. Then you list 
below the date of every sale you made, the name and address 
of each prospect, the sale price which indicates the style of 
binding, the amount collected by you from the subscriber, the 
sum, if any, which the subscriber is to pay on delivery, the amount 
of the monthly payments, and the date the books are to be 
delivered. 

157 


Business Notes 158 








Every single one of these items on both sides of this Weekly 
Sales Report is of the utmost importance. You must make a 
Weekly Sales Report even for those weeks when you have taken 
no orders. If you are ill or for any other reason are not able to 
work, the Weekly Report should so indicate. If you are incapable 
of making the report yourself, see to it that your manager is 
notified and he will make it for you. 

These Weekly Reports are the basis for the personal records 
we keep of every field worker. Through them, also, we are able 
to get sales statistics which are vital to the growth and develop- 
ment of our efficiency. You must not fall in the habit of making 
these reports incompletely or carelessly. 


Sales Contracts.—The sales contracts or orders which the sub- 
scribers sign are the most important of all the documents that 
the Company handles. Here, particularly, every single bit of 
information must be accurate and complete. A contract improp- 
erly filled out may result in the loss or cancellation of an order, 
and this is your loss, as well as the Company’s. After making 
a sale it is surely worth a little additional care to make sure that 
everything goes through smoothly and to the satisfaction of all 
concerned. Here are some of the points particularly to be 
observed. 

Name of Prospect. Be sure that the name of the prospect is 
legible. If you cannot decipher each letter of the signature, ask 
the prospect to spell out her name so that you may enter it 
clearly on the back of the contract. 


Address of Prospect. Be sure that the street number is correct 
and that the same street number appears on the front and the 
back of the contract. In entering the names of the city and state 
do not abbreviate them. For instance, do not set down “‘Beth., 
Pa.” for ‘Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.”’ Often there are other 
cities whose names correspond to the abbreviation. If you are 
working in suburbs, very small towns, or rural districts, be sure 
that you give the postoffice address. Local names do not always 
correspond with postoffice names. 

Due Dates. In indicating the dates on which monthly pay- 
ments are to be made, try as far as possible to distribute the 
dates on your orders throughout the month. Of course, if the 
prospect expresses a definite preference for a certain date you 
will so indicate; but if, as is usually the case, the fixing of this 
date is left more or less to you, avoid putting it on the Ist or 
the 15th of the month, selecting rather some dates in between 
those two. We ask this because the tendency in the past has 
always been to name one of those obvious dates which results 
in making the work of getting out statements exceedingly heavy 
immediately before the 1st and the 15th of each month, while it ., 
dwindles between times. 

Information About Husband. Our Tracing Department often 
has much difficulty in locating subscribers when they move; 
so, in addition to the subscriber’s name and address, we must 


Business Notes 159 








have the occupation and business address of the husband. In 
knowing by whom the husband is employed and in what capacity, 
we are able to check his credit, and this applies also to the ques- 
tion of whether the family owns their home or rents it. 


Names of Boys and Girls. When we have the names of the boys 
and girls we can often locate subscribers who have moved, through 
local school superintendents or teachers. The ages of the children 
help us to answer subscribers who, through some misunderstand- 
ing of C.P.E., may feel that the books are “too young”’ or ‘‘too 
old” for their needs. We can explain just how the books can be 
used most advantageously for children of the ages in question. 


References. The reasons for having good references are obvious. 
The chief thing is to make sure that you get both a personal 
reference and a bank or business reference. 


Statements of Your Accounts.—Statements will be rendered 
each month, showing the condition of your account with the 
company. Ordinarily these statements are sent direct to the 
manager for distribution. Should you at any time fail to receive 
yours, ask your manager about it at once. 


Monthly Installments.—After closing a sale, have it clearly 
understood with the subscriber that she is to make all payments 
to Chicago by mail. Immediately upon receipt of the subscriber’s 
orders, we write her a good letter, thanking her for it and then, 
ten days before the next payment is due, we send her a notice. 
No other arrangements are permitted. 


Cash Orders.—You must bear in mind that a cash order on 
which you are entitled to a cash commission is one where the full 
cash is paid either with the order or on delivery. If the sub- 
scriber sends in the full balance, five, fifteen or thirty days after 
the books have been delivered, you are not entitled to the cash 
commission. This rule is not enforced to deprive you of any 
advantage from such orders, but to make it possible for us to 
handle our work at headquarters without a great deal of extra 
labor and confusion. When an order is received in Chicago it is 
entered in a certain way on our books, your account is credited 
in a certain way, and many other items are listed accordingly. 
To change each of these items after the account has started on 
its way is virtually impossible. 

Handling First Payments.—The money collected as first pay- 
ments on orders should be turned over immediately to your 
manager. Under no circumstances whatever are you to offer or 
agree to make the first payment for a subscriber or any part of 
the first payment. 

Misunderstandings.—Before leaving a subscriber you should 
make sure that she understands all terms and arrangements 
thoroughly so that she will have no justifiable excuse later on 
for claiming misrepresentation. In cases where a subscriber is 
unable to make monthly payments on account of illness or her 
husband being out of work, etc., our Collection Department is 
able to handle the situation with consideration and tact. Where, 


Business Notes 160 
—VU—6V6GceD~~—~—~—=aa"=ananE__=_=_=_—_——- 
however, the subscriber claims misrepresentation on the part of 
the solicitor it is a very difficult problem. Mind you, we do not 
fear intentional misrepresentation on the part of any of our 
workers, but misunderstandings can often do just as much harm. 

In taking the order it is necessary that the subscriber sign the 
original order personally and, of course, to make it a good order 
the subscriber must be of legal age and understand the terms of 
the contract. To make sure of this, read the complete contract 
slowly and carefully to each subscriber before you leave the 
house. 

Supplies.—Your manager will furnish you with all supplies 
upon request and will either give you or forward to you, if you 
are in some other town, your copy of ‘Better Business” every 
week. 





INDEX 


Sd 

inery Mri QW tOUSe YOUL . 48% oon stc he ee ee ee PON 151 
Pr OUNTA: WITH. COMPANY s,.. cholo) 2 ee el ee ee ee 159 
MeGuAACY LMportance. Of os... ye ueton ely wh ee 21 
BIRR LIN OLUITI ORE were eV peh ee LS aac rh rane 53, 108 
Apapting Mretuops—To yourself....................000. 141 
DANGLY LNEORMATION fhe Ataris tects Me oes na en 69 
Per BAIR OH ILDREN sa prenjc ete ic on cee a airs he ne ate ee 91 
BReEeMENT Gaining faswrc: «Ricki ceiok wats alle os ae 77, 111 
AGREEMENT WITH CoMPANY, Your....................0.. 157 
LR E TION memento LNs yes Reis Ad Aso els Eee he a Se 152 
UARLIDS TATED eo ue 2 to JA Bde ce ed A AC A OAR OE 149 
PAMGT SOM PALM My pint’ rer a Mea eda hd hae ee 51 
PEE UNM ITCCUN Bie, CS tote) ad AAAS Be cep ale ee 103 

1 BUYe ERCP Rot ecle e CN o i e e er ON d eer Coe ee ae 103 

SEEDING FOC SIMDIGssue san eee eee an cee Me OLE 104 
PEP ETA RUAN CE Ie Mg yes Me a wre MTN a EATS Siete ts ket oRae eS 147 
Fa ELCON CON te Wea hem, ON oe, RES WUE OLN 52, 70 
PEG UMIENT PA VOICING Se cue yo GAN «nl artrete oes eal: 49, 107 

Never convinces or persuadeS.............002ce eee eeee 5 
INMOUSINGSENTEREST = (0 oie ctu. oh 6 babe where «Bes 53, 82 
PBT CLEA =H OW WIItlell arti re wie, parses Moveed oa Sees 28 
IABTISTIC QUALITY OF Ge Pecli PAGES: Gon. nay cs ok aen 33 
PAT IeNY OR KAUN IC SL enh mea Sees es ek ec ree ata chee te 30 
NAN DSW AROSE. 95 ot 15 Ai Mamas ROY, URS RE ae ep eae 53, 77 

ne DrOspeCe, heat mene mee se nme Be he Le cet co ee 90 
ATTITUDE—Toward Cross Prospect...............0000005 48 
BtITODE OF; VMIND—Ill SAGs en fees ce eons 2 Met ae es ae 45 
PAW A GEES IAW) OL cla, eaetuttrae theta Sereda rele aetls het s SES ehh 151 

* * * * 

DH ACH AGHANDLER 15 fet. ee eae eee lee Sekt eh ER ye 12 
PSE ALT YOR Guy a us, AGES pote ie nt eaten hes tinge 33 
SS EYDER RID USIN EBM era eetre ards Cue Set, RUN Ne oy eit Bie Pages Soe 59 
SEAN Ka COAG pent Te eat Pew") NR Ete etc sleds Bea a 130 
Book SALESMANSHIP—Most honorable profession.......... 47 
IBGOKS SALEAME NE TIDUTES! UG ee adn cet is ae ce Seas 11 
Book Stores—Sales methods................00 cece e eee 9 
IBOOKS.COSt GL INS ING a.m es aren sore eee pas eet a 9 

COstOl selling ent. law ees, Tis os alolats oe ad ee epee 9 

No simple way of judging their value.................. 8 

VV AE Chev: INGA vei hen meee or faa ae eet a Aye EES. 7 

Wi ys peonle Duy. theme aire et kee eee ds eee 8 
SOAS ABO VOUTLOWNES Ch mere fe eee ke ts) ok nara eat ee 154 
BOLLDING DELEICONFIDENCE 6 eet ase la thet ae nae 138 
BBUsIN ESS ULLDER wn ites ices al cerathecsry seer eee eee 59 
PORN NS; DEPARTMENT: cate ta. ua eke cons tela eee 20 
EUBINESS SALESMANSHIP Ot Atenas en. ce heat re 2 


CALMNESS) Value: OF i215 terrace. ales: cave Martens nee) ene eee 79 
CasH Orpers, Rules governing .|,...05. j00. 002 ters mee le oe 159 
CABSELL G& COMPANY fee. nei a ee © eo mt eee 39 
CauTion—A sales: motivete ) ci) 4 xa) ee ee 97 
Appeéalsito sc Fete sia | a0 ee ee, ee 101 
CHART OF BALE: . hsculeu ora oe Re ee Pe 81 
CHEERFULNESS 2, Oe SS ieee ae s dies Co eee eee 144 
CHILDREN—Ages and grades. ..:...-.0:shscsse eee see oes 91 
Names of (55-20 oo ek 6G es OS Oe Oe 6 eS ee are 159 
CHILDREN’s Booxs—Different types..................--. 24 
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS fy 75 4-: sles). 4 Vso a tet ae 88 
Crim Ax;, Working up to0:2.. 9.26 b eee 107 
CLINCHING BALES: 25 ou sews e BO eo ee Ce oe eee 117 
OUOBE oe ie bo Gye ee eote ein dee a Mtoe anita een nn 53, 108 
Main ‘purpose: of .000:0 5 eve ee ek were © wate ee ee 110 
Notes Ones Shag bi mimed bores Bere eee os ye ae ee 115 
Preparing for $2. Was Ao ee eee Pie ee eee 111 
Prospect’s attitude toward 5.020. yee ee 114 
What.to do when it failsy))y.05.- vou b ences eee 115 
When to: make iti eiag Se) ee ee ee ee 112 
CLosING METHODS 2: cas oe nie oe Cre ee ee ee 111 
CLOTHES fey pls he co te ae BY ctor ae Se a ee eee eee 147 
CoMMENDATION: LETTERS (010. 2.004: 58 
Howto Uses g sies Po ies aie ee oe ee eee 105 
COMMISSION SALESMEN « )). eu. Gee ee te 154 
CompEtitors, Value of information about................. 60 
CompLAINING—Sure cause of failure..................+-5- 143 
CoMPLETENESS OF C, P. E.—How attained................ 31 
Compton, F. E.—Biography...................0e eee eee 13 
Compton; FE. EK: & Co. History of) 02 6412 ae eee 12 
Orranization Of) o. cap aee coke oo caso ake pene eee 19 
Comperon, J..M.—Biography = ¢ .:.).4,:5. «- eee ee 15 
CompTon’s PICTURED NEWSPAPER...........---+-+++++e85 41 
Compron Srervice—Always works...............000eee0e 88 
Spirit of sce wl ested Ae ee re ee ee 47 
What ites ci 20 2 5 eS De tee ee 41 

>t Why'it was perfected. 2.0 024.45 1. Seuss ee he eee 88 
CP. E.—Adopted in: England ©. 225255 447504 sae eee 39 
Adopted in‘ Italy 7 ite aCe) 2 oe ee 39 
Appeals to young and old-alike? 72) 229022 Sn ee 38 
Art workpiece PRs Pees 8 a ae See nee 30 
Based on. Xperience =\2.4¢ 52% is we bite oe eee eee 24 
Beginning of 5s Pee. tas i oe ees Cerne 25 
Complete description impossible...................... 83 
How articles were written 6): 2.20225. 7p ee eee 28 
How it'is kept: up;to'date joc. /2-gese 2s ee 41 
How ite‘quality helpsiv. cad g0c220) Veber at Senne 86 
How pictures were selected.............0 cece eee eeees 29 
How picture-text was written...........0..ce+e+e+s0e- 30 
How printed i. Passe scat wine Ae oultete ee eter ere eae 33 


Reem er VMIBKERUD) 5 6.5 «cis ob dg ste OS te vi Bile whee Wl oe ew AO 33 
DRECRRGIN) EOL Orne Sc Zee Pg Mra atin ists GEO ALM, RE > 21, 
EVEWIICAR OL SERS eee aOR Peas oo Re eee oF 
RTE OL DADC oie Fa reeks ¢ fe wate OPE Meh ea, 36 
THRE CW) C203). rn ene eM babe ORE ea bene 7 fem BL 37 
why not'sold:through book stores... 2.) 22... 7.02) ae 9 

BeeebeNncH establishing 290.) foc. 6 toi, cewlret rae 89 

PeeeIDENCH ING) OURSELE ¢ 1. 544 shore eee eee 137 

RENTS TENE VOR KS. cer Crs Gil en ithe kis Ulcalet Sent eee eae 154 

(SONTRACTS—How handled... ....2... 20.4 6600.0 dwn eens 20 

BaeNrHACTS, LOW LO MAKG OU, 60) 02. eas a ec ee ee 158 

PONTROLLING UNTERVIEW toch 0c. ope oe be eee bate te eee 115 

ConvicTIoN—Not enough for sale....................000. 109 

Co-OprrRaTION—In making C. P. E.....................0. 28 

SE TORUCASO I TOUI s tocitice Bhi eho tae Cis ese were Re PEO 145 

OEP EI RET Ge Sea UP 9 ES NR a rR Ie 142 

PUD AYO ere Lt phe els cg ate a ese fuss hiehele ge epee 146 

CraANE, Dr. FRANK—Tribute to book salesmen............ 11 

MeRMAN TING LOESIRE Wee ee irae taal sy celte ss «5 ev AREAS O. 53, 95 

ROSS PROSPECT LLOW LO.LTCRU yaa) ee « o/s 0m disease 48 

RUE OPE OOS D DA1G ns cineca... vice tied Bn ohe oo e 80 

*k *K Ke * 

SAUTE PORTS erie re ere ey oe te es eh aia hetyrs ahertdlvele wy 157 

TAPES OR VAYMENT. AITAN GING 3805 cio an) a sia coe gir eee 158 

Decision, Helping prospect to make..................... 114 

Dervay—Natural to everybody.) 5.0. f.6s hee ee ea due 51 

WE MONSTHATION DULPOSG! Oli Satade ese ods lea oe ee 83, 89 

PDP MONG TRATION ENOTES 5 coctiied e hie ie aaesteleu cid leveie ev ue wleared 105 

DerscripTion—Should be short................ rear. Ae 85 

Heres ANCL TOU CIN Maer errs Ova es Field wie Sa ele kad a calgch aad 53, 95 
Miffara TFOMPIILCTeste tein ace re avaek # kare aheve Cloleenmtee 95 
PW eee Tia iit CALC eee pa en eRe en er tee he Sir 95 

Pepe M EAT IO Ne ee ea het a Se ee oe he oe a te a ee 142 

TDYWOP Bo pe ayds SGN kot SOR UR i geen Be da a OR eo 148 

DIFFERENCE—Between interest and desire................ 95 

Pre mV A IUICIOL EME ity, cis ch vies oo ana eta once sa Rete 146 

POL ROTTEN BEM ALS 5) oe ie ee ae ties lel wine eee dies aS 103 

TEN CMP NOTEORUACHING? (ks. autecrce, cic econ hg. tack ua ear 47 

IDGMINATING INTERVIEW «0601.05 )o oscp tole s etate sain eh 2 atee ee 48 

ere E PRPS BERIT EM ier Mili Met iah tale cbafooy st wie + Fk Spepetecpealety 158 

MM Crea LUT eT hete at ies Cd sy 80a oii win 0 SMG NCP Toi'n ie nebo Rha 88 

* * * * 

TEA GEENS PRA HEE EO) 2 URNS Wan Re aes MER ED Ay. ea 140 

PERRN INCOR EAATIIUNG VOUT sees 6 etic, lenis chaivue Vin stueks lath cedetnpas 62 

FL AGREE ROUTE UI SAAS by Sa eg GOs PIR A ON PREC ta Oy 148 

BECO NOM sas. 5 Bea's & 8 POR Daas Lee iC os Wa, Race eR eT EAS 147 

PEELCGORELT DEPARTMENT 1.000 «2 oyu Sion. coos b oderepar me gensievse 19 
ere CVOPK OCOD Cab ah iii i aise oisdesos khaad toe eR eee eee 28 


Mprrors OF Co Pa Bs boa eet es eee eee 25 
Tribute:t0 ooo ee nae a oe ee Se 
Epucarion, New methods.in: .0.2.\. ferepen ie ee 23 
‘The newiides. 4 {osu etes, yan eee eee Ze 
EDUCATIONAL SALESMANSHIP...........- Rete. as me 
Epucators—Their opinion of C. P. BE.................... 37 
HMBARRASSMENT, Overcoming... ........6-- ssa oe ee t2 
EMoTION-—Leads to action ....5.4....25 2s ee 5 
EmpHasis—On sales motives. ..........0000 cece cece eeee 102 
ENGLAND—Adopts Co PAE... ou. 6 selec nate eee ret 39 
PINTHUBIASM 2 edo sin ee Sed a Sie ee we ee 140 
‘Aroused. by.C. PoE &. Ja.555 oe. ee ee 38 
Your need: for. 4.6. See. wales 2 ee 87 
ENTRANCE-—How to make ib..cq.t «s+ es  ee 74 
ESTABLISHING CONFIDENCE... 2505) ©) acre ee 89 
EvuROPEAN Epirions—Of C. P. BE... 1... ee eee 39 
ESX CUBES! (oldvs foitasg i ete: Pe is ee ee ee JR. eee 119 
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT: ...5.15.<2 + 2 5 5150 ee eee 21 
MXTRAVAGANCE. o.cs cco he bus Ae, nays, heroes epee ee 147 
Hives, CaresOf os .6 6 cates ces By ee ee 149 
S343 £3 
Fact-Rv ex). ides bey fae ts tas oe 31 
FatLturE—Brings success closer............-.--20+-+eeees 47 
Complete: Formula. for. tcc... tee ee ee eee 45 
Invyour dutyc ss fine rat i en ee ee 88 
FarMER—Compared to salesman.................-5+-05- 82 
Firtp Nores—How to take them........................ 68 
PIRLD STRATEGY is ove ct oe eo eek seats eos Ae 60 
BFrerpvDacrics. ee 2 a, © See seers ene ee 65 
FirMNEss—Prospects Welcome..................-++++-+ 114 
First Impression—Importance of.................-..... 70 
Frreri PAYMENTS ooo fi ok o's els Os ee 5 ala ee 159 
Force—Needed to make sale................ 000 ccc eeeee 51 
Horn, Guy STANTON .5 49 acu 5 woke ele 20 no, pee eee 20 
FORGET YOURSELF 0 cc gels cr es oe eee TZ. 
FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF SALE... .2 cee ee eee 51 
* * * * 
CGEAINING‘ATTENTION (450 0.505.50.00 op pete te ee 53, 77 
GAMB Playing thes. 2. 06os ss. 5k se ee oe 155 
GETTING IN—A personal matter...............-.-.00---- 139 
Methods'for.) 3 ieee eo ee eee 74 
CGILLFILGAN, S. J.- Biography 92... 2 te 2 ee ee 17 
GRADES OF CHILDREN) (60.2 ol ee eee 91 
GRERTING PROSPECT) © U0) 60 sc 3 gee ee en ee ee 73 
* * * * 
HABIT OF WORK 65 atiicce se tendts are 2 b)t ko ieee ey ee 153 
FLA BITS Ae cick nd ae eet aan ta Vee as COD Ie 146 


164 


PTAMLUTON Oo Pints s5.5 ans Coo ee UU ie ae adi. 48 
Happrness—What it means............ 0.00 D0). fife okp 1 
EU IRDBVY OU K(Ue ME Ve. oicla ca ge oobi aecsk PRET ae UL ea ae 153 
HarpinG, SAMUEL BANNISTER.............00- 020 elealeekee 26 
[RN GAN Dp Ne t+ oc ign lell elt MIN Ra, CRNA Reyne ede tan Net dan as Se 148 
Home—Importance in education....................0-00- 23 
POURS ——- WOlK: Der CAV 1) cc ic eeu ae eee ae a ee 61 
ELUOMANSINERTIA, Uw Offs sslret icy Sheeo te eeuse tae 109 
: * * * * 
POA LIC VELODING okie Get nd Nara oa gee 141 
PER GINARY, AILMENTS it een. cae ac ae ais ccget aetae ena tae 149 
EMAGINATION + A DDCaLitO ais ere aun td Oke ck. sunt eee © nee 86 
PMPEDLEINGIA CLIONL Hered 5 hie Lee, sat we these sus 53, 108 
INDEPENDENCE—Carries responsibility.................-.. 155 
ERE OAC Ue cent cc et SM, Oy hao Abe cee tens 153 
TNDIRECTEA PPE ALS Hr eile es EO Pint eg eee 103 
ENSSECT TAT LA WLOL ea ere cee a ic AOR Ie ene oe eye 109 
INFLUPNCE—HOW t0 gebity o. 5. ge feos oslo gu ey ieee 64 
RV LILO OR RGAE Tee ae Bete fy eet a aba pce m oe 63 
INFORMATION—About Compton Service................... 55 
PAO UGDCUSDCC US soar m mint ty wernt amen e nce ne von ees tan ae 65 
FADGULALEITILOLY eet Be een eat reso aeer eae 62 
From prospect’s surroundings................2..00005- a5 
How to get it from neighbors.....................-05: 66 
CMmrcontracts ANC TEPOrishe te ta apace. anid 5 157, 158 
AIETA LUV Ett Seer oe a, en he ere he, hae 141 
NET RT UM EEN TS arene, So08 recat eer Chale Sae OE ore ahs ts. he ane 158 
PTS Ce TOUSEN POEL CONC ita srarees ce alan.c Pe shcs em one 53, 82 
Can never make sale alone...............20..00 000 aee 95 
IDHFeTSrrrOniOCsIre te. toe a, renee re tee ee em 95 
IMEENOGSIOL SLOUSIN DE Meni 2 errant reer senda tee oe oot 90 
PAU Cer WAV 10T CCBITG 2c eee eo ne Nee el et tee oe oss iar 91 
LEeSLINie EPTOSPGCE Stas ken eee tes ee oe ees ee 93 
INTERESTING STYLE OF Co POW is jac gen es oles a eclek Babe 28 
ENEERESTS.OF LL ROBPECT oe te ie ek ans Ae ann wees 88 
PNTERRUPTIONS A VOICING cee eee Mom ae re ten Wea eee aa 79 
HO WALOINADCIGR. chon een as hue et anh avers fetes 106 
INTERVIEW—A contest of strength.................2..0055 115 
SE GNLTOL Of epee sire Stites Patents oekete sae peut oe ote ek 115 
GIN ALIN Seis oyster oe 48 
IVISTINGT CQUING tet eel te eases ee ee CR ae oe 78 
122 PASTA Pd fella tee iceman etna Rage eI Uy ae Ong Aah err, Pee eee, hee 67 
RPTRODUCTION Steet eet nat ttte cre woven scete auNG whore see oh Mere iG 
PN GPIRATION——lOM-WOPK git heme is Gace ae nina te ate reais 47 
VERN AGOUIS Oba Lite Ce ticle ia cleteictee ed wiasdle oie leet 39 
* * kK * 
UGHNGON PLLARRY-C. (Diography.. « cs.c yo viele a cle acces nie cies 16 
ONES ON SEY MOURS . fe ariel. ie «cereale co eee ea gis <lagetoe cients 20 


INDEX 


Knowinc— What you are\selling......................... 55 
* ke Kk 

LAW OF AVERAGES: th ook nk) ac ae ee ee 151 

Lerrers oF COMMENDATION.+.+..5 0) (pane 6) ae ee eee 58 
Using 2 agin ero aie hin ce 105 

Line Ercutnes—-In' CeRo His 3ly nase ee Bonen ins eee 35 

Living CONDITIONS 22 ice ie pe ee 147 

LOAFING, Cost ofp irin foo alec ieee 153 

Lucx—Don’ttrustito it 25 oe oe ee 67 

* ke k 

Maxr-Up—Of C.- Po oo ce Be eae ee ee 33 

MannerR—During Interview..................0.-0ee00es 78 

WIANNERS: bo Secchi bo cs ote eee ee a cee ad ene 146 

MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT...............0000 000000 19 

MEETING OBJECTIONS (2.2. 55 eee et ee eee 118 

MEMORIZING SALES TALK...) ou eee ee 56 

MENTAL ATTITUDE, -YOUr;....-- 5442 5e es eee 45, 71 

Mernops oF CLOSING 27 -4)45540 eee hn ae 111 

Miner, MARVIN Esl oi ec dace oe eee ne een 20 

Misrakes—lInfluence on you..............22 cece e ce vees 139 
In Teportsie cere ee: LES shee 1 bead 2 a ne 157 

MISUNDERSTANDINGS—With subscribers.................. 159 

Monry—A sales motive io.) 2240.0. ew ae een eee 97 
Basis.of salesmanship i335) hee ee 51 
Test of your, success )-9..2 eds ¢ eee ee 153 

Money Motives, Appeals:tofid cu... aes oe Sees 99 

MontTaiy- PAYMENTS, Fixing j720 oc os oe eee 158 

MONTHLY STATEMENTS ig. s oe ses ee oe eee ee 159 

MoraLE—What it means to you.................. 00000 ee 137 

Motrmrs——Need Helps. of. ee 0) SA Oe pee 46 

Motrvis, ‘Salesy o. 5 coltio. sic gies cok feels le Oe ee ee aie ean 97 

* * Kk * 

NATIONALITY—Of Prospect... ......... 00 cece eee e eee eee 92 

NaTURAL, Importance of being..................0.0eeee: 72 

NBATNESS YN ral cea cet ae! es 62 shee eee eee 147 

NEEDs OF ProsrPect, You must decide.................... 87 

New Metsaops; Demand for. 7. ...:cuei4.-. .. eee oe 23 

NEWSPAPER, Importance of reading...................... 61 

New York Times—Tribute to book salesmen............. 11 

Notenook, Value of) sac) 0009522 24.2 see ee 69 

Notrres—How to take them.......... 0... ccc e ewer cence eee 68 

*k Kk *K * 

Ossncrions; Kinds 0f,)04.'s-.0 02s eh ee eee 118 
Meéetinig ae ealeae a aceasta soe ee eee 113, 118, 120 
Mostly mere excuses... 0.5 3% 094s one eee 119 
Special waly, of meeting: mo. Chet eee eee ee 116 

QOssective, Value/ol baying: )7.. 73. 462 a eee 48 


INDEX 


OrpER— Making it easy to sign..... 000) f/f yn0....000- 110 


SUHDRREUOO Ramen sac cs eR oe en Sol eat 7: 59 
(rpRRA— tow Handled . oy ..cs 5), oe eens ee Ue oa ae 20 
Oursipe INtERESts—Of prospect...0.........+. oo iki. 92 
* * * * 
Pacus, selecting from prospectus... 6... 2 ee eo 91 
merino Usediin CG. Py Meerut.) eee ee ee ae 36 
POSH VIORANC Wi tea to ct the oe OE Gin ee 145 
PERSO NAD) A PPEARANCI.. oh nh Eee hone ie cae ee ee 147 
EMRSONAL NOTES, “Elace {0fsc eee ek sae ee ee 130 
GERSON AT GQUALITIES. «as casicnt ects s ee cae en 137 
HEPES ALLE Yop etolc he se so caels ere Ca ee eg EHLERS, cet a 71 
Persuasion—Differs from conviction.................... 4 
Methods Offense. shy AL Ler ae ea ae ed Na lo 5 
WWihetit Means a ata eee, See tide BONE We Aeon. wee se we 4 
IREUY RECTAN § CONBILUIN 9 wi spe ey ee IR cree tame terrae pastes 149 
PicturEs—How selected for C. P. E..................... 29 
PictuRE-TExtT—How written. ........... 0.002 e ee eee eee 30 
PUANNINGSTHERINTER VIEW Shs on Sea. 2 eee Cente 67 
LLANNINGEYGURAVY ORK OP fete ose mrn ho o B Ge yy incae anes 51 
ica CHS ETUC Sos aes ots gts an oe, xe tool ee Chea eee 23 
APPR ANCUTE EY Cra ME fon ROM 4 ae Oe Bry auancrdaiadine aor Woche 155 
PeeAstre—-A sales MOtlVes. csc 6 Pn k bison ma Oe eee 97 
Jia STS EWE AAS ee NEM Panes Wh ai dol eRe Mia ER 2 ree 101 
crises V GLUE OL car cee ayo ester lk Sales CAA 0 45s Pa oa aay ale 79 
OBE PAV OLGIUNG MME aun eH nan cers fen oS roams t)7 ae 72 
PositT1IvE Force——Needed to make sale................... 51 
POW EOS A LEMME ANAEITD holes oe Sian i a sy eh ee Cee ele eek 87 
REPIUDICE LUXAIN DCA OLA eae ire ete tks wet ccsea bike 83 
PREPARATION FOR ADE cL.0 eit gettin Giclee! SOR aig ote 52, 55 
ERSSPA RING BORG LORIE eee eee hs. fare Meee 2h te 111 
IDRESSURM A ISCODIN Up ere eee iiet ba teed hai Sohne ie he 120 
Pain ce ACealesINGLiVeHe nt eee bree Wee 4 97 
HADES LO ene ch O me ea mae en MI So erties Shore LAA sete 100 
PRIDEMINGVORRE se nee er ee eh: Paty ee 47 
PRINTINGIOM. Cope Liar ee PA Caw set welts en eet 33 
PRINTING DATE Rein te ye te eee e te nate Chee nit Oe ce eee 33 
Prorirs—Test of your success........5..5...002 5b ccs cees 153 
IEROSEECTMALULUGE OL saan aes ates Ges oe aes 70 
TL DUUSGtG Ward meet inne ee ee Pete eee s. fracch tiated wie 87 
ATHGRICETLIOS WILDE eee ata ee ts... et iu ae 73 
18 Erna Pil p oto Ryo din gt Riel Ladd Ome See I ORG sal ane RD gD aE 47 
TEGEITA LION LOU Gree er eee en es hn Si hd ced oS 2) 65 
MEWS VAIRIO Cre eee teen eter a yA ecg tee At UN ged oc 5 
EE GOTIAUL VeOLetetne eee en ies Ses are ct he oe STS 92 
IN COC Sa EOE) USEC Men mie Luan OR em Oo NES kOe ware ee 110 
GUT EIU AN CCTCSLA OL ee teen na een reins ve cate ant oe 92 
ELIT Ole erry CHa re re ie tS See, cS oh alate snus 92 
bor N HST ARTETA, csi Ut pel Oe, dxal re a & aa aN AR Ea am i 90 


Prosenon Weakness ail (\ 25 oc8e sh ic eee oie 114 
Wii PO MTORR TS BMS. oc. <i ce ei ae ge Oe 91 
Rressencrs,Typeq Ofc ish see ee ee ae 75 
What thay want:to knows. 2; 95. tee. - eee 84 
IPROSBECTUB aii s0) ones ae ae ee oc SN ARS Oe eet 58 
Howto shows ttua. tae ott. bo eee ere ee eee 93 
Purpose ot esa os waco eta ee 89 
PsycHoLocicat Moment—Discussed..................... 112 
PUBLISHING BusingEss, Problems of...................... 8 
*k Kk K * 

Quatirins, Personal. .2c:., 2.5 oe) tee 137 
Quatiry or..C. PP. E.—Howathelps..)....5.. eee 86 
* * *K * 

RRBADY-MADE DALES 15.4 vx ssi los an eels ee ee ee 52 
REASONS “BEHIND CLOSE:,...0 us ass en 108 
REASONS FoR Buyina—Make no difference............... 88 
REGULARITY, Value of.2).... 2.04 eee eee 61 
IEPUSAL, Do not-forces ..\...0 >See ee eee 113 
RELIGION——Of prospect... ..0. f0.s s eee eee 92 
ReELuctancE—Of people to part with money.............. 51 
REPORTS 3 oracle eps alice wcoheadi ieee las pico 157 
RESERVE OF MANNER S. 400 .cebnyeo eee eee 107 
RESISTANCE, Stimulating effect of)... 77) ee 142 
REesPonsIBitiry—To yourself. .....7..........-2200-00u' 155 
Richt MENTAL “ATTITUDE «...5. 0c. 1 es eee 46 
Rigas OF: CHILDREN? 314 & de. pee SOR eee ee 88 
FRUUDENEISS 0p. 5 cihstlie ie als wish cele Ae Re 2h 146 
RULES OF TALTH ©. os ule settee te ee 148 
*x* * * * 

SS ALR ora eae er Shs, Betis ilive. cine ag acetic ats wink 43 
Anal ysis‘ofe ney a kicen te gs is Ba ahs Ss ee 51 
ADDIORCH I oi. sic Gt ie es ators cal) Byes Eee 52 
Clincbing titi ae ania cies tne > went bos ees ee 117 
Dominating seed. 6 brn on. 4) cate oon ee ee ghee 48 
Fundamental problem; ......4 «= ase et oot 51 
Map of ee ee tas fs Phd a non Ca 81 
Motives; that bring about. 2.2... 7.2m. . 97 
Preparation LOTR cals al. 2 a 52, 55 
Stepsiin making hi 54! ci). aS ee 52 

Sates ABILITY, Two ways of treating... 4.4 Ae eee 151 

DALES CONTRACTS ie’ so u.c ks vos ns 4 Ce 158 

DALHS IOBPARTMENT s . 2; 0-4. 0d ios.) ee 20 

DALESMA NG SoU e pute Oeste 5 hislis oi x 5, os he eC nh 135 
Always has advantage... .......5.. Aue. L eee eee 115 
Comparedito farmer... .. <1 3. oe eee 82 
Point/of view: offer 6.5: ws cao ea 48 

DALESMANSHIP—A > Game?\\, 0.0. 0.. do 4. eee 155 
Art of using common sense... ......0 se eee 6 


as 


INDEX 


SALESMANSHIP—Differs from order taking......./.).60)0.... 3 
URNOT Ea te VO Pen. a). kas evicdee Mee LG eee ae ee a 
RR COMIMISSIONEDASIS 4°. 2, at), eee cere 2a | ae ee 154 
pemenrol freer, s . oct x al eee eee ve eee ae 87 

ESRI TICORTATIOON, ...0) gow Seeds Gad ee ee eee 57 

Peres MOTIVES, Lomphasizing 049 4a. 42-84 a te ee 102 
PRR cot Lp barsty ach cae a el Owe 9 Ak Cee © Ce a 103 

PIPROMNOTESS.. ; Saved Seaciered oss Somes s a ae 130 

BALES«LRESSURE, Keeping Up si ith mde 2s ace ee: 120 

PMS OLORTES Set ots oie ale ice 40 tie rd eae Poe ea ee 121 
SONCOTIN Oe eG cae Ce ee a. es eh at eee Aa, ne 122 
ATU LES: OL bee oh an te ih dna gusty ST ene et Tere) eee ae 122 

Sa ES eA CTI COME Sra ne te Mee ca VEL Re ae ge oth mi Nd ML en 65 

Sates TaLKkK—Adapting it to children..................... 91 
GABE lo LOnyOUr Personality ac. pees | te callie are 57 
AMDOrLAN COOL MATTING oc rece cena eels free eee 56 
WSIS PTR VIVICL Oe era eek con ene ee yk ean. 90 
VinICrIOlL OL VANS meetin rier see tara ag ae. We ae 78 

Sample Paces—Their purpose............. 000 cc es eeeeee 89 

SATISFACTION—AS a weakneSS............... 000 c eee cece 152 

SATIOE IED (——ATOtyOU, CARL Ver gs Hine cen wives Aes eee es 152 

PRerinh yin Gee ROSPECT 4... 5 2aie cca he a ene Besa ces 90 

DGHEDULE OREW.ORK I ers cya eee cate hai emer te 61 

SCHOOL SERVICE DEPARTMENT...............--0-.e0escee 20 

Scooots—What they think of C. P. E.................... 3¢ 

RP OON MID EN Cilia se cis seine he tutes h oes neh Peak aa dees 137 

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS, Overcoming..................0000- 72 

GM YOURS Nee mirc, a ae centre ecm aa tem Te ean 140 

io VIC Ter LO Al Th ye eo 2 es ee oss hes a bg ie oe aR Mess 42 

SEDI UDI ce hy hay ee een ic Pe Ah ee a ERE ip 149 

SiGNiInG OrpER—Making it easy..... 26... 62. ease ee ae 110 

BENE DAG Y UY mV AUG Ones e Pi re is oie kre iee Ge in om eens 104 

Ee ee He ies Cee ane Swe ale tetas siete aE ed beewie 148 

PUMP meV Dat COCO 1h o nme wk eam Cian ae pitin alee ueinns ate 148 

SEES — IT VALU C oUk a teed he cet Ge eh atte 8 oka gion eee 144 

SEPT POTSR LOM tlOOK JOME iy. .side 2 Sto ete cee ie eee 139 

DOMECRSIOPIENFORMATION oo leu ot ss orth een eae ea et 66 

SPECIALISTS— heir part in'C. PB... 6. 28 

eA Me LACTLC SRT Siok A ogee ccet otek re an ae i ee ae 65 

eT NCA TY O PALLY EN Clete BY ee a cad oe dae Sh 147 

SPANDAHD DALES(1 ALK, Value Of: 7) 2 .¢.da eee anes bo eee ae 

THAD EAGT CORINCIIVE Fo heat ne tee een ene ees 50 

Sreapy Work, Value of............. SORE OUS FR rr RUN SIR 145 

PRESSING LARING SALE Soe cus Frnt cs ac oe ee 52 

preee Tats CG LECLINID Cue wea erty yet Anh bec tc or oh en ea 122 

Promise HeXAIN ples Of ceiae.e a ame ac uene ts. ies ceed ores 122 

erornies— Value in sales talk... ae. «nets Sut s od ae ee Oa 121 

are rr y——In thetieldy. 5. a aisiae naan «oe el ale ng ea See 60 

Date teers Kit a teen eee ek ac Uk A, ate, Delt 4k LE ee anes 59 

STUDENTS’ REFERENCE WORK). 0lo.fct'. ts dee cove nvescv es 13 


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123! 
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Mit Bb 31S S God.ND BX 
STUDY A) per ene 4 ek os ae, OPA ee oe ee aL 
SUBSGRIPSION DOOKAS 9 Mca calgs 3 oe) yen oe eee eee 10 
Supscriprtion Meruop, Efficiency of...................... 11 
BUGCEBS . Sosa ahiee eee Saas eR oS ae 151 
What it means to you............. SEED is... Sea eee eee 1 
Success-er. Oy Pa Bye Say 2 ee Ae eee Oe eel a on 
SUGGESTION, (POWER OLM 20 aiaaere nn ee eee ee 86 
SUPPLIES 605) Pics ck aco orc a UO oes nia en 160 
Surrounpincs—Effect on yourself....................... 148 
SYSTEMATIC. WORKS. oc5 56.) ee a ee ee 60 
* * * 
SPACTPUL OPENING «ic cte coe Oe ie eh 73 
TauK Letting prospectiy. cp ses. oe ee oe ee ee 106 
TALKING YOURSELF INTO FAILURE). ..)...5. 04-5 oh) Gene 143 
1 oy 2 PP SG Dor pen Aaa MAP erie OL cs Te ee Win Ng 149 
‘TERRITORY, StudyMg ‘your, soe. 8.6 ot eee ee 62 
TestIna PRosprect’s INTEREST. ...........--...e0ceeeees 93 
Trmiprry.. No ground forz.<sees ) le eee eee 70 
TOLERANCE—Toward prospectS..............0 0000 cece 46 
‘ERAINING——In sales motives: .). 7... .nadee an ee eee 103 
ERY-OUT: CLOSES $5 oc eine ale ee te ee ee 115 
TYPES OF PPROSPECTSii cic ies! sore i ee ee Cee 75 
*k ek Kk * 
UNFAVORABLE THOUGHTS, Preventing.................... 97 
UNPREPAREDNESS—Cause of failure...................... 55 
UnNsUCcCESSFUL SALESMEN—Reasons for failure............ 49 
Up ro Datr, Keeping, CoePa ena ur he at. eee eee 4] 
User or G."PiE: Showings. esse, ie es oko ee 84 
Uaiiiry—A ‘sales motive 2) 3 eee 97 
ADPOCRIS LO Sits ws 6 eb ity oie El ee hei ey ee 98 
* * * * 
Vivip, Making Sales Talk. 327. 3 ee ee ee 90 
Voice—Expressing confidence.....................0.0005 1389 | 
* * kX | ; 
WrakNESS—Of Prospect ........ 0... e eee et eee eevee: 114 
WEEKLY REporRTS.......... eee Se ee ny, 157 
Work, Attitude toward 2: 55/52 sig as ataaete es eee 151 
Inspiration for j. fo 0 sei. oe ee sce 47 
SIVSTEMALIC 8 Gs Siac cles «idea Meme, acini ya eee 60 
‘Chin king: abouts desis fs. 2 sc ecco une ce ee ee 141 
WORKING SCHEDULE 05594 4s a oo eee ee ee eee 61 
WorLp War—HEffect on education....................... oF 
WRONG MENTAL ATTITUDE.:.., >. 50-55 ee. cn eee 45. 
Yus-Answers, Getting <5). i.e ees eee 111 
“Vrs —-Making it easy to Say...) 40. see es ea 11Q, 
STINGS AM oe Par kuaes foe a Win 6 Sade Oe eee ee ee 35 








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